39 Days
by Mussimm
Summary: A challenge, a deadline and a mission. Fire and Wind are intertwined, the fate of their people will be decided in 39 Days. ShikaTema, NaruSaku. Rating may change.
1. Prologue

**The Tired Shadows**

--

_The lamplight flickered, the day was nearly done. Two shinobi hunched over the shougi board, staring each other down._

"_The day you win against me, I'll frame the king for you."_

_A smirk crossed the face of the older jounin._

"_Today's that day."_

**--**

The morning in Suna was cold, as all desert mornings were. Grey dawn crept through the village, preparing for the blazing heat of the day. Sand swirled through the streets and forced the few people already out to wear thick protective clothing. Most wore forehead protectors. There weren't many civilians in Sunagakure no Sato.

The Kazekage's office would open every day at the first ray of sun, just as the night watch was being relieved. Six ANBU would show up first, clearing the perimeter. Ten years before, the Kazekage would have been the last to arrive, long after the sun had risen. But his son, the Godaime, was always there long before the clerical staff.

Gaara rubbed his eyes, alone in his office. Paperwork was always the consuming interest of the Kazekage, and he felt like it had doubled in the past couple of weeks. Things were going wrong. For Suna, for him, for his family, for the Daimyo. An unexplained attack had damaged a town in Wind, the Hokage was expected to announce her successor at the Hinokami Festival, his sister was becoming increasingly erratic and most disturbingly, one of his personal retinue had gone missing, all evidence suggesting that she had left Suna willingly.

He leaned his face gently against his hand and sighed. Twelve years as Kazekage and he felt like it had been an entire lifetime. The papers on his desk were in stacks taller than him and didn't seem to shift no matter how dilligently he worked. He would be glad to be out of this. He was the youngest Kage ever instated, most were given the honour of dying in action, defending their village, but he knew that he would have no such honour.

"Temari," he said quietly. The shadows of the room shifted and her image flickered in front of him, appearing in a split second. She wore her hair down, porcelain mask over her face, indistinguishable from any other ANBU. Aside, he noted with a slight frown of disapproval, from her decision to wear her uniform skirt several inches shorter than the other members.

"Yes, Kazekage-sama?" The blond stood at attention, completely unmoving.

"Nee-san," he said directly, trying not to let on that he was nursing a headache. "Okama Seiya, my taijutsu specialist, has been gone for a week. Please consider her a missing-nin."

"You want me to eliminate her?" Her voice sounded hollow from inside the mask.

"Yes, consider it your main priority. She's dangerous." He handed over a file containing a brand new Bingo Book entry. He watched her posture for her reaction and saw her cock her head. "I'm sure you know where to start."

Temari looked down at the picture of a woman with wild dark hair. Her statistics asserted her to be thirty eight years old, with brown eyes and a noticeable scar along her jawbone. She regarded the entry carefully, thankful for the additional information, as the woman wouldn't be easily recognisable. Mainly because her face was covered to the bridge of her nose with a black mask.

"You suspect Konoha of foul play?" she asked evenly.

Gaara looked at her, his eyes lazy and tired. "No. But if she has connections to their jounin, she may have made contact."

"I'll leave straight away."

"Thank you, nee-san," he murmured, turning back to his paperwork.

Temari turned to leave, then paused, looking over her shoulder. "Gaara, congratulations."

He looked up at his sister, face impassive. Her green eyes were just a hint of colour behind her mask. "Thank you, nee-san."

--

Tsunade gazed out over her village. It was closing in on sunset, people were finishing their business for the day. Shadows grew long, the villagers growing fewer and fewer on the streets, the gate guards changed shift. It had been a long day. An almost continual stream of messages out of Suna had her working overtime, it seemed that the Wind Daimyo couldn't catch a break. She was glad to see the end of the day. Sundown meant that she could have a drink.

The blonde Hokage sat at her desk with a heavy sigh. She fished in the bottom drawer for the bottle of sake. Shizune felt that drinking at the Hokage's office was inappropriate, as was drinking during work hours or the night before a big day. Jiraiya felt that drinking was fun, and should be done as often as possible. Tsunade thought that sundown was a good compromise. She looked at her reflection in the clear liquid. The illusion jutsu kept her looking twenty years old, but even that seemed to have slipped a few years.

Sakura's shock of pink hair appeared around the door. She smiled at her master. "Shishou, Kakashi-san is here to see you. I'm off for the night."

Tsunade looked at the girl for a few moments before answering, not really wanting to talk at all. Sakura wasn't a girl anymore, she was twenty-six years old, almost unrecognisable from the little slip that was scared senseless of her teacher in her first medical lesson. Still alone, though. Still too proud and too busy for real friends or lovers.

"Send him in. I'll see you in the morning."

Sakura bowed and closed the door behind her. Tsunade wandered out onto her balcony, crossing her arms on the railing and watching the sunset. She knew that she wouldn't hear him come in, so she just waited and watched the horizon light on fire.

"Hokage-sama." Kakashi crouched on the railing next to her, his one visible eye scanning the village.

"Another message from Suna?" she asked, avoiding another sigh. She couldn't let her subordinates see how tired she was growing.

"Seems they have another crisis." He handed over a scroll from Gaara. "Their top taijutsu specialist has left the village with no word of her intentions or whereabouts."

Tsunade opened the scroll and looked at the Bingo Book entry that was included. She raised an eyebrow at the copy-nin. "I see."

"No relation," he said with an eye-crinkling smile. The Hokage glanced down at the picture again, looking at the masked visage. Shinobi this old were usually retired from active duty, if alive. Then she was in no position to judge a kunoichi by her age. She glanced at Kakashi again and he indicated the message from Gaara. "Sabaku no Temari has been dispatched for the assassination. Kazekage-sama has asked us not to interfere. Sabaku no Kankurou will be travelling with her as the Sand's Hinokami delegate for the festival."

"Do you know if the rumours are true?" She scanned the letter, looking for any confirmation or denial of the whispers that had flitted around their village.

"I haven't heard anything. Would you like me to investigate?"

"No, it's a personal matter. The Kazekage needs his privacy." She offered him a bowl of sake and he accepted it wordlessly. They both downed the drinks without looking at each other. Kakashi examined the Hokage out of the corner of his eye. She wasn't looking good. It was coming up on the tenth anniversary of the death of Jiraiya, closely followed by that of Shizune. Everyone had expected her to resign after the death of her last family member, but she was made of sterner stuff than that. After so many years it was no surprise that she was handing the torch to the next generation.

"Have you decided on the next Hokage?" He changed the subject to one which was a hot topic in the village. The Rokudaime Hokage would be announced at the festival, and whoever won the betting pools would be very wealthy. The Konoha 11 were all hot contenders, Naruto at the forefront.

"No," she replied with a pensive look. "Though I have it narrowed down to five candidates. The council will most likely make the decision."

"Five," he said thoughtfully. "That's a lot to narrow down."

"I'd be happy with any of them leading Konoha." Tsunade downed another bowl of sake, leaning heavily on the railing. "Naruto, Sakura, Hinata, Shikamaru or Neji."

"Naruto will never talk to you again if you don't choose him," Kakashi said with a smile, accepting another bowl.

Tsunade laughed genuinely. "That's true. He's the strongest shinobi in this village, but he's still young, even for his age. Impetuous. Another five years, maybe."

"Maybe." Kakashi's mind was elsewhere. He was interested in their conversation, the future of Konoha was paramount. The only thing was that he had also received a message from Suna, and not from the Kazekage's office. The scroll was burning a hole in his pocket. "I have to attend to some business. Please excuse me, Hokage-sama."

Kakashi bowed his head to her before leaping onto the closest rooftop. He disliked abandoning Tsunade in the middle of a conversation, but apart from the update on the Rokudaime decision he had no pressing business with her. The message he held was surely top priority. He flew across the village, his feet barely touching the rooftops.

The Wind was in trouble, no one doubted it. Sporadic attacks littered their villages, moving dangerously close to the Fire's borders. Their ranks were in disarray, stories of strange behaviour ran rampant, and the rumours about the Kazekage didn't help matters. Whoever the new Hokage was, they'd have a lot on their plate from the get go. With Okama Seiya thrown into the mix, he would have recommended Tsunade postpone her retirement, but that wasn't an option.

Five young shinobi, an ANBU captain, a strategist, a hunter-nin, a medical-nin and... Naruto. Any of them would be capable of running the village, but it would be a hard start. Moving into office while an ally was in crisis was unusual to say the least. But then, Suna's troubles were Konoha's troubles and the continual state of turbulence had people on edge, new leadership was a way to renew faith.

He slipped into his apartment through the window, casting a quick glance around the bare living room. He almost expected someone to be hidden in the shadows. It wasn't a fact that he wanted to enlighten Tsunade about, but he did know Okama Seiya, and she would almost certainly be visitting him soon. There were no unusual chakra signatures in the area, but he lit a few candles anyway. His hands shook a little with the matches and he took a deep breath. A week of no sleep, investigating the attacks on Wind, and the knowledge that his old friend would soon be putting him in a compromising position had him stressed.

The light spilled over Kakashi's desk and he sat down, spreading the letter on the wood. The script was sprawling and hurried, she'd written this on the run.

_Kakashi-taichou,_

_By the time you read this letter, I will be twenty-four hours out of Konoha. The others have received their orders, they'll be joining us soon. Our deadline is approaching and you know what needs to be done, we've left it as long as possible. The changeover of Hokages is the perfect time, their office will be disorganised and unable to send a proper force after us. I am sure by this time Suna's hunter-nin are after me, hopefully we can avoid Konoha's ANBU joining them. _

_My scroll has been recovered at great expense, soon the evidence will be discovered and our problems will multiply. I hope that you have already recovered yours. If not, we have a week before the bitch arrives in Konoha, Uruhana and I will assist you in its retrieval._

_I can also confirm for you that the rumours regarding Gaara-sama are undoubtedly true. The announcement will be made in unison with the Hokage's decision._

_Seiya_

Kakashi sighed heavily. So it was time. He'd known it was coming, but had denied it for as long as possible. The scroll was somewhere that he didn't want to be intruding, he wasn't even sure that he could.

Temari-chan was after Seiya. It had been a long time since the Suna-nin was an academy liaison, now it was very serious that she was after them. The Scarecrow Assassin, they called her in Suna. Her techniques were so destructive that she couldn't draw weapons in civilisation. The victim would find themelves in an open field where she could tear them up at will. They would have to leave Konoha eventually, making it all too easy for her.

Kakashi held the edge of the scroll to the flame of the candle, burning the evidence of his correspondence.


	2. Day 1

**Day 1**

**The Decision, The Bet and The Deadline**

--

"Sakura-chan!"

Sakura grimaced, keeping her head down as she made her way to the hospital. She clutched her books a little closer to her chest, hoping that the effervescent blond would just leave her alone, she was too busy to deal with him.

"Sakura-chan!" he caught up to her side, giving her a winning grin.

"How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that?" She said with a glower. The urge to smack him over the back of the head was strong, but it had been years since she'd been able to do that. Years of training meant that she would do real damage with her playful punches, and as tempting as it was, she didn't want to genuinely injure her old teammate. "I'm due at the hospital."

"I'll walk with you," he said, falling into a bouncy step beside her. The slavering grin on his face told her what his next question was going to be.

Sakura sighed, tired. "Tsunade-shishou hasn't told me who the next Hokage is going to be."

"She doesn't have to," Naruto announced proudly. "It's going to be me for sure."

She gave him a sly smile and then turned her face away smugly. "I don't want you to be too disappointed, but it's going to be me."

"Sakura-chan! Don't say that!" Naruto cried, thrown off balance by the statement. He ran a few steps to catch up to her, his amphibious eyes narrowed in poor humour. It made Sakura giggle, bumping him with her hip. Still as gullible as when he was twelve years old.

"Shishou hasn't decided who it will be yet," she admitted, taking pity on him. "But she'll never pick a baka like you."

"You're so mean, Sakura-chan," Naruto grumbled.

"Maybe I wouldn't be," she raised a menacing fist, "If you'd stop calling me that!"

He leapt back, holding up his hands to placate her. "Yes, yes, sorry, Sakura."

She turned and continued walking, noting dryly that it was a pity that such a good looking guy was such an idiot. He'd been a stumpy little sprout when they had first been assigned together, but now his stringy blond hair had grown into a golden mane, his pudgy little body into a mass of rippling, well trained muscles, and his sage features gave him an air of dignity that she considered outright deception. Sometimes it was easy to forget that he was still the overexcited fool that she first met many years ago.

They passed Icharuka Ramen and Sakura saw another candidate sitting inside with his old team. "Shikamaru!"

He turned lazily to face her, giving a wave. "Morning, Sakura."

"Tema-chan's in town," she said with a grin. The shadow-nin sighed a long suffering sigh.

"Thanks for the warning," he drawled, his shoulders slumping.

"Tema-chan's in town?" Naruto asked. A smile brightened his face. "Does that mean Gaara's here, too?"

"No, she's here on business." Sakura felt relief at seeing the front doors of the hospital. It was going to be hell until the festival, he'd be grilling her on Tsunade's decision until it was announced. "I have to go, it's a busy day today."

"Wait, when're we going to find out who the Hokage is?"

"Don't you know anything, baka?" She thumped him with one of her books, leaving a bruise on his arm. Naruto jumped back, rubbing the sore spot. "It's being announced at the Hinokami Festival."

"Yeah, but when's that?" he moaned.

Sakura sighed, turning into the building. "39 days from now."

--

"Shikamaru!"

He turned, seeing Sakura walking with Naruto. He offered a wave. "Morning, Sakura."

"Tema-chan's in town." Her grin was just the perfect mix of smug and unsympathetic. Shikamaru sighed. They all loved to watch the Sand kunoichi torture him.

"Thanks for the warning," he grumbled, turning back to his ramen. Ino smirked, looking at him out the corner of her eye, and Chouji grinned into his bowl. Great, perfect, this day was starting out so well. He glanced at his old teammates. "What?"

"Nothing," Ino said, barely containing her grin. She buried her nose in her ramen. "Just wondering if that means you're getting another tattoo."

Chouji's laughter boomed through the stand and Shikamaru scowled. They were never going to let him live that down. Chouji slapped him on the back, making him cough. The big man only got bigger with every year. He grimaced at his friend. "Shut it."

"Who's Tema-chan?" The squeaky voice next to him reminded him that Shiho was with them. Her bug eyed glasses peered up at him and he almost laughed.

"An old friend," Chouji replied for him. "Ask to see what happened last time she was in town."

Shiho looked at him curiously, obviously not wanting to ask but dying to know. Shikamaru cursed under his breath, rolling up his sleeve. The cryptologist blushed bright pink when she saw the tattoo on his upper arm, three purple suns. The symbol looked oddly familiar to her, but she couldn't place it.

"Tema-chan," Shikamaru huffed, pulling his sleeve back down, "is someone you shouldn't make bets with. Let's go before she finds me and forces me to spar until she breaks my arm or something."

He tossed a wad of bills on the counter and nodded to the owner. Shiho turned on her chair and lost her balance. She fell forward on her knees with a yelp, feeling the skin scrape off her legs. With a soft grumble, she looked up, bracing herself to stand. She stopped as she came eye-level with a pair of long, smooth legs. A whimper escaped her lips unbidden as she looked up at the owner of the exposed thighs, who peered down at her. Shiho jumped back, cracking her head against the stool she'd been sitting on.

"You wouldn't get hurt if you practised your taijutsu, crybaby," the newcomer said with a cocky tilt of her head.

"I wouldn't get hurt if you didn't hurt me, troublesome woman," Shikamaru growled back.

"Tema-chan is Sabaku no Temari?" Shiho choked out, letting the Nara help her to her feet. She trembled a little looking at the Suna-nin. She realised where she'd seen the three purple suns before, at the martial demonstration a few years back, on the Sand princess's tessen.

Shikamaru leaned back against the counter, crossing his arms. He appraised the blonde in front of him, ignoring the snickers from his friends. "It's been a while, Temari."

"Three years," she said with a nod, hands on her hips. "I heard what happened, I'm sorry."

He knew that she was sincere, but something about the way she said the words was sterile, definitely not comforting. All he could do was nod his acceptance of the condolences. "You're hunting someone in Konoha?"

"I hope not." Temari tossed her hair, which had grown longer since he had last seen her, the ponytails now flowing with the movements of her head instead of sticking up akimbo. "Let's walk."

Shikamaru nodded, but Shiho caught him by the elbow. Her cheeks turned pink and she was flustered as she spoke, her eyes furiously avoiding his face. "Shikamaru-kun, could you come to the cryptology unit today? There was a message intercepted from Wind that we can't decipher and I was hoping..."

Her voice trailed off as a hand clamped down on her shoulder, just a degree shy of painful. Shiho froze, feeling Temari's fingertips dig into her upper arm. Fear gripped her coldly and she heard the wind-nin's sacharin voice. "He'll have plenty of time for your errands when I'm done with him."

"I'll be over there this afternoon, Shiho," Shikamaru assured her, walking out of the stand.

Temari nodded to the other shinobi. "Nice to see you again Ino, Chouji."

They fell into step together and Shikamaru chuckled wryly, shoving his hands in his pockets. He let her lead the way, not sure where she was planning to lead him. "Did you have to scare Shiho like that?"

Temari smirked. "I didn't ask you to walk with me for fun. I need your opinion on some matters in Konoha, she shouldn't have interrupted me."

He looked her over again, noting her stupidly short skirt, but more importantly she wasn't carrying her tessen anymore. Now two smaller versions were strapped to her back. Other than that she hadn't changed a bit. "New weapons."

"Yes," she answered monotonously. "I'd show them to you, but I'm forbidden from drawing weapons in town. If you'd like to go to the training fields and spar..."

"No," he said firmly, scowling at her. She grinned childishly, showing a thousand white teeth. "Do you have something to say or are you just trying to talk me back into the hospital?"

Temari's face turned grim and her eyes scanned the streets, watching the people pass by. A few shinobi, mostly civillians. She turned her eyes straight ahead. "My mission can't be discussed in public. It took a lot of negotiating for me to be able to tell you about it, but I'll need you to come to the embassy to discuss it."

"That serious?" Shikamaru saw the look on her face and didn't need an answer. He scowled, looking at his feet as he walked. He licked his lips, glancing over at his blonde companion. After a moment's hesitation he spoke. "I didn't know that you made hunter-nin."

"You're still not supposed to know," she said with a quirk of her eyebrow. A frustrated pout crossed her face. "I couldn't tell you."

He supposed that was as good as an apology, and as close as he'd get from her. "I understand. It's a shame you weren't around."

"I've been needed in Suna too often to be travelling back to Konoha. It's nothing personal."

"Sure it's not," he ribbed, a smirk crawling onto his lips.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Her eyes narrowed playfully. She stopped walking, cocking her head and glaring at him accusingly. "You think I've been avoiding you?"

He knew he was asking for trouble, but it had been three years and he loved to see her feathers ruffled. With a shrug he looked away from her. "It's okay. If you needed to run to Suna to lick your wounds it's nothing to be ashamed of. I know I'm a hard guy to get over."

Temari laughed derisively, tossing her hair. "Nara, you couldn't get me if I gave you a step-by-step manual and a thousand years to try with."

"A thousand years?" Shikamaru leaned against the nearest wall, appraising the hunter-nin. Thirteen years ago she had wriggled under his skin, forced him to rise to the challenge. She hadn't lost that talent over time. Just hearing her say that he couldn't do something was reason enough to object. "I'll do it in 39 days."

"I have to see this," she said smugly, crossing her arms. "Any particular reason for that amount of time?"

"The Hinokami festival. By midnight that night you will kiss me." He held something in his hand, offering it out to her. She reached out and took the shougi piece he offered, turning it in her hand thoughtfully.

"39 days?" she repeated, toying with the piece.

"39 days," he confirmed with a confident nod.

Temari laughed and pocketed the pawn, accepting the bet. She turned and continued toward the embassy. "Keep dreaming, Nara."

--

Kakashi unfolded a set of blueprints, setting them on his desk. He pinpointed his objective and paused, looking for an easy access point. No matter how he considered this it was very inconvenient. He should have retrieved it years ago, before it was in use, but he had hoped that this day would never come, and now he'd need the help of his team.

His brush flicked, drawing a dozen possible routes on the blueprints, anything to show his teammates when they arrived. This was borderline suicidal even with a good plan. There was no use complaining, Seiya had apparently paid dearly for her scroll, and he would have to, as well.

A foreign chakra signature made him stop his drawing. "You should be masking your chakra."

"I didn't want to surprise you, Kakashi-taichou." Okama Seiya lay on his sofa, stretched out with her eyes closed. Lying on the floor beside her was an enormous scroll. He relaxed as he felt her chakra disappear.

"You won't be surprising Sabaku no Temari." He gave her a smile, easing up on her. "It's good to see you here safe."

Without opening her eyes she rolled the scroll toward him. "A miracle, I assure you. The Godaime inherited that."

Kakashi picked up the scroll, examining its seals. The genuine article, stolen from the Kazekage's household. "How long until they realise it's missing?"

Seiya shrugged, "Hard to say. It wasn't being used and I left a replica. Knowing Gaara-sama he'll figure it out in a few days, but he can't do much worse than sending Temari-chan after me anyway. Uruhana should be here in two days and Mist hasn't figured out that he's gone yet, so we're about as poor for luck as we're going to get."

"That's good to know," he nodded, feeling no humour at the situation. They only had so much time before Konoha figured out that he was hiding two missing-nin, then he'd become one himself.

Seiya sat up, running her hands through her shock of hair. "Have you retrieved your scroll yet, taichou?"

"Not yet," he replied, turning back to the blueprints. "I'm working on the infiltration plan right now. We may have to wait for Uruhana, it's going to be difficult."

"How difficult? Is the Hokage's office investigating you?" Seiya sat bolt upright, her eyes narrowing in panic. "I thought that you had this under control, you should be able to just walk in and take it."

"No, it's fine," he held up a placating hand. "The Hokage doesn't suspect me. The scroll isn't with the Godaime, it's in a clan hall."

"So?" She stood up, beginning to pace. "Just slip in there in the night and grab it."

"That's the problem," he presented the blueprints to her and she leaned over his shoulder. "It's in use, and going in there at night would be a very bad idea. It's holding up a very powerful seal over the surrounding forest, one of the clan must be sealing something in there."

"I still don't understand," Seiya shrugged. "What's to stop us going in there while they're asleep and grabbing it? Whatever they're sealing can't be as important as our mission."

"The problem," Kakashi said, meeting her eyes evenly, "is that you don't go into the Nara clan area at night if you want to walk out again."

Seiya snorted, tossing her hair and slinking back to the other side of the room, her imposing figure blocking out the light from the window. She stretched, impressive muscles rippling down her back, the fell back into a familiar hunch. "If we can't pull this off we should send these Naras out there instead of us. More importantly, the bitch will never let us forget it."

"You don't have to call her that," Kakashi reminded her politely.

"Probably not," she agreed, looking out the window. "But it's more accurate than her name."

"Mei's not so bad," he murmured, still concentrating on the blueprints. "If you'd stop aggravating her you wouldn't dislike her so much."

"Can't help it, she gets under my skin." Seiya turned back toward him. "I guess I'll have to get used to it, we're going to be spending a long time together."

"We're going to need Uruhana for this," Kakashi said with finality, dropping his brush. "We'll have to leave quickly after the theft, let's wait until they're both here."

Seiya shrugged again. "The ritual itself won't take too long, we have time."

"A week to formulate the plan, a month to execute it. It has to be done by the festival." Kakashi examined his work again. "39 days."

--


	3. Day 2

**Day 2**

**The Sad Tale of Tsunade**

--

The festival inched closer, each day the preparations moved forward. Tsunade was swamped with work from every direction, the last thing she needed to worry about was flower arrangements or firebreathers. She would have retired at the previous year's festival if she'd known that all this was going to happen.

She looked up from her paperwork at the rising sun. It wasn't too late to stay on as Hokage, to put off the decision, clean up the mess and give the Rokudaime a fresh start. She wanted to, it was the right thing to do by Konoha, and she'd spent the last fourteen years doing what was right by Konoha. But when she thought of the idea, it seemed like she was reaching into a pit of bottomless exhaustion, like beating a dead horse.

The Hokage looked at the cup of steaming tea in front of her. A swell of nausea hit her. She tossed the cup at the wall, hearing the familiar tinkle of shattered ceramic as she fished in her bottom drawer for the sake. Usually the rule was sundown. Not today.

She raised a bowl of sake in a solitary toast. "Ten years today, Jiraiya. I've looked after him for you."

It was against the rules, but she told herself that she'd make it up to Shizune. She wouldn't drink at all on her anniversary. Or maybe she wouldn't work. Maybe she'd just stay home and drink all day. The village needed their Hokage, but it was hard to find the part of her that cared anymore. Even Jiraiya would have scolded her at this point, he would have given her that disapproving glance, taken her sake bottle on the pretense that he wanted it for himself and staggered off for more _research_. And she would have let him.

A younger woman would have cried, but Tsunade had sixty years of crying, the feeling no longer satisfied her.

"Shishou?" Sakura peaked around the door, then ducked back as the sake bottle shattered where her head had been. Tsunade didn't want any visitors. Unfortunately, her protege wasn't that easily deterred. The door opened again and Sakura bustled in, landing a pile of papers on the desk. "Shishou, you shouldn't drink so early in the morning. We have a big day. The new graduate medical-nin need inspection, the Daimyo will be here in a week and there's a problem with his accomodation, there's another message from the Kazekage..."

The Godaime listened to her prattle on, listing the thousand things she had to do. Why had she ever left the city? The Legendary Sucker, that's what they had called her, and she'd spent all her days running from loan sharks and playing poker. Shizune had worried about her so much, but she had never been happier. A new city, a new face, travelling with her niece and doing what she loved. Naruto had convinced her that there was something more to be had, something worth fighting for.

Bah, all she had here was a pile of papers and a list of chores. A new nickname. She couldn't gamble anymore, could barely drink. No fun, no freedom, no family. If she'd just stayed with Shizune they never would have been put in the line of fire. Jiraiya would have been Hokage, buried under a pile of paperwork and unable to run off the Amagakure. Shizune would have been scolding her for losing another ten thousand ryou, hundreds of kilometres away from Pein. She hadn't cursed Naruto with that necklace, with that kiss, she'd cursed herself.

It was ironic, she supposed, that her blessings had landed her here, drowning under her own grief. The most ironic thing of all was that the desperate urge in her chest to cry out for help, to reach out to someone, anyone, would go unanswered. Who could she talk to anymore?

"Shishou?" Sakura's green eyes pierced her own, fraught with concern. Oh, of course Sakura would listen, and tut and coo. But the girl was too young, unable to understand, too fragile to put that on. Why wasn't she married? Why was she watching her friends risk their lives again and again without ever truly reaching out to them? Tsunade saw too much of herself in the young woman. "Shishou, are you alright?"

"I'm fine." Tsunade straightened her posture. Maybe there was one more thing she could do that would mean something. "Sakura, please find Naruto for me, I'd like to speak with him."

--

The ANBU headquarters were dark, shut off from most light. There were no open windows, that was too insecure, there were just narrow slits near the ceiling, allowing natural light to filter in. The dark hallways were filled with shadowy figures, each wearing a porcelain mask.

A blue-haired kunoichi pushed into the briefing room, bowing gently to her captain. She took up a seat amongst the small crowd. There were eight ANBU captains and six hunter-nin gathered. One masked face turned toward her, a shinobi with long, dark hair and a raven mask. Hinata bowed her head to her cousin.

Tenzou stood in the front, file in hands. Hinata picked up the copy that sat in front of her, examining the contents. Missing-nin, suspected to be in Konoha. She baulked when she laid eyes on the woman. Why did she wear a mask like Kakashi's?

"Thank you all for coming," Tenzou began, lighting up a projector to outline the Bingo Book entry. "We've been made aware that Okama Seiya, missing-nin of Sunagakure, is most likely headed for Konoha. She may already be here."

He let the statement sink in and looked around the room. No one asked for the evidence that she would be heading for Konoha. Neji spoke up. "This entry does not list her crime."

Tenzou nodded. "Okama Seiya has no definitive evidence linking her to illegal activities. However, as the Kazekage's personal bodyguard and advisor to the office, the status absent without leave constitutes treason. Seiya has the highest security clearance in the Land of Wind, she knows detailed information which could jeopardise Sunagakure, and she is a master of forbidden techniques. Do not mistake her for a runaway."

"Does Suna have operatives in the area?" Neji always took the lead in these briefings, Hinata though with a mild swell of frustration. Other people had questions, too, and he wasn't even letting Tenzou finish.

"Sabaku no Temari is investigating the situation," Tenzou confirmed. "Sabaku no Kankurou is also in Konoha, and will take appropriate action if required. Our duty is to assist Temari-san as requested without interfering. They have both been granted full freedom of movement while in the village boundaries. Please understand that Okama Seiya's missing status is unconfirmed. Should she be sighted she is to be brought in for questioning. If combat is required, you are strongly urged to engage outside the village."

"Is she expected to engage?" Hinata spoke up, cutting off Neji with a respectful bow. She could see his eyes narrow through his mask. Internally she sighed, she had hoped that earning the status of hunter-nin would come with respect from her cousin, and an easing of tensions between them, but it only seemed to have the opposite effect. Soon she would be up for promotion to captain and hated the thought, Neji would never forgive her for outranking him.

"That is uncertain," Tenzou replied to her question, bringing her back to the room. "She disappeared from Suna eight days ago, leaving no clue as to her intentions. She may be passive, simply wishing to retire, or she may have hostile intentions toward Suna or another village. Temari-san will be keeping us updated on any new information."

Neji was still glaring from the corner of his eyes and Hinata blushed, fixing her eyes on her feet. It had been years since she felt inferior to her cousin, Kurenai-sensei and Naruto had tried so hard to overcome her feeling of worthlessness that she had no choice but to accept it. When she was selected for ANBU she just couldn't feel useless anymore, Konoha was counting on her. But these informal briefings were always awkward, Neji-nii-san just wouldn't accept her and made a point of it at any opportunity.

"Any further questions should be directed to Kankurou-san or Temari-san, who are in residence at the Suna embassy," Tenzou said with a pointed glance at Neji. "I will make a point that her assassination is Sunagakure's business, she poses no immediate threat to Konoha or any citizens and until then we have no authority to do anything but question her. Temari-san is responsible for bringing her back to Suna. Our hunter-nin will be taking the lead on helping to locate her for the Kazekage and protect Konoha in the event of an attack. Everyone else just be aware that she may be in the village and inform a hunter-nin if you sight her."

Hinata closed her eyes behind her mask. She tried to picture Neji coming across Okama Seiya and rushing to inform her instead of engaging. Putting ANBU on alert was the smart thing to do, but she wished Tenzou had briefed the hunter-nin seperately. Hinata knew that she had tried her best to get along with Neji, but she always felt ashamed when their family tiff became a conflict of interests in missions.

Hinata realised that the rest of the room was moving, Tenzou had dismissed them. She picked up the file, intending to study it further in her team's office, and headed out into the hallway. With her nose buried in the file she used the others' chakra signatures to avoid bumping into anyone, treading the well worn path to her office. The file was very interesting, Okama Seiya was a very distinguished kunoichi. Retired ANBU captain, twenty-six completed S rank missions, eighteen high profile assassinations, a short stint as a hunter-nin. Hinata's eyebrows shot up. She was capable of the seventh gate tertiary lotus, the same that Gai-san had been working on for years.

The blue haired girl smiled sadly. Maybe one day she'd have a file like this. Hopefully not in the hands of an assassin. Maybe if she was capable of forbidden techniques or had assassinated a Daimyo then Neji would realise that she had earned her position on her own merit and not through her father's influence.

"Oop!" Hinata bumped into someone, falling backwards. She looked up, gathering her papers back together. "I'm sorry... Neji-nii-san."

Neji offered her a hand and helped her to her feet. She flushed behind her mask, her frustration with him building again. He had masked his chakra from her or she would have avoided him. There was no reason to do that.

"Hinata-nee-chan," he said calmly, "I wanted to talk to you."

Hinata continued toward her office, allowing him to fall into step beside her. She wasn't a little girl anymore, she reminded herself, she couldn't turn back into a stammering mouse around him. "Please be brief, I have to speak with Temari-san."

"That's what I wanted to talk about," he said sternly. Sometimes he was so like her father, she couldn't imagine why he wasn't head branch. "I'd like to advise you to avoid contact with Okama Seiya and continue with your regular missions."

The frustration in Hinata's chest flared into anger. She kept her voice calm. "My team are the primary interceptors, Neji-san. I cannot ignore Hokage-sama's orders."

"You haven't read the file," he observed. She opened her mouth to object that he hadn't given her a chance, but closed it again, resigned to bearing this lecture. "This missing-nin is the pupil of the Yondaime Kazekage. Hinata-chan, she outclasses you and I don't wish to see you injured."

Hinata reached her office door and turned to look at her cousin. She pushed her porcelain mouse mask off her face, setting it atop her head so that she could look directly at him. "Thank you for your concern, Neji-kun, but I cannot ignore the Hokage's orders, regardless of the risk to myself."

She closed the door in Neji's face.

--

Shikamaru rearranged the papers on Shiho's desk, hoping that a new arrangement might reveal a pattern in the coded messages. Not that it had the previous ten times. And half the messages were lost in the cyclone of paper that blanketted the office. The script was completely unfamiliar, the code resistant to any normal techniques. He had even tried mathematical algorithms with no success. There wasn't a single decipherable marking on the paper. They couldn't even figure out the addressee.

Shiho was literally buried in a pile of papers, searching each one individually for the rest of the messages. He couldn't see any way that a new one would help with the problem. These messages were important, they had something to do with the attacks on Wind. The interesting thing was that they had come from somewhere within Fire. They had definitely stumbled on something interesting here, but it was pointless if they couldn't find the key to the code.

"Found it!" Shiho squeaked, holding up a piece of paper triumphantly. She rushed over to the desk, presenting the letter proudly. He gave her a nod and her cheeks turned bright pink, her eyes wide with excitement. He never would understand that girl. In the ten years he had known her, she had never managed to look at him without turning pink.

"Good work," he said with mild enthusiasm. The message joined the others and he looked again for the pattern. The same strange script, the same illegible signature, the same irritating blur of unreadable information. He examined it back and front, looking for any indication that it provided new information.

"Look here," Shiho pointed to the signature. There was a small symbol next to the name. "I've seen this symbol before, but I can't remember where."

Shikamaru's eyebrows raised as he looked at the symbol. He'd seen it before, too, and he knew exactly where. He's come to think of it as the Universal Symbol of the Jackass, because they'd chased that symbol across a dozen countries for a single jerk. "That's a clan symbol. Uchiha."

"Uchiha Sasuke?" Shiho asked, her eyes widening even further behind her thick glasses.

"That's the only Uchiha I know of," Shikamaru agreed. "This might be the key to the code. Someone who knows Sasuke well enough might be able to help decipher it. Or it might be an Uchiha specific code."

He turned, already searching the bookcases. Shiho watching him work, sighing dreamily. He was so smart, whenever he came to help them they always made huge strides forward so quickly. It was such a pity that he was a shinobi, or he could have worked with them full time. But then, if he wasn't a ninja he wouldn't have such broad shoulders or such quick reflexes.

She knew that she shouldn't have been watching him, she should have been concentrating on work, but it was so hard to concentrate with him in the room.

"Good morning, Shiho-chan." Shiho instantly snapped out of her trance at the smooth, deadly voice. She could feel Temari-san standing behind her and she looked up with an apologetic smile, trying to pretend she wasn't staring at her colleague. Temari was only an inch or two taller, but she seemed to tower over the younger woman. She looked down with a sly smile.

"Good morning, Temari-san," the cryptologist said, turning around to face her and taking a step back, putting a little distance between herself and the intimidating blonde.

"Morning, Temari," Shikamaru said with a yawn, not looking up from his book. He presented the book to Shiho, still not looking up. "It's not the same code, but it might be a start. These are symbols from the traditional Uchiha writings."

"Find another room to read it in," Temari commanded. "Shikamaru-kun and I need to talk."

Shiho nodded and scampered out of the room. Shikamaru sat on the desk, lighting up a cigarette and giving Temari a long suffering look. "Do you have to be so mean to her?"

Temari just smirked, leaning against the bookcase across from him. "We have important business to discuss."

"Cryptology is important, too," he noted. "We might have found out who is attacking Wind."

She paused a moment, then shrugged. "I'm not on the assigned team to investigate that. Okama Seiya's return is the number one priority."

"For Suna," he reminded her. "Konoha's priorities are different."

"Are you going to tell me what you learned or not?" She gave him a bored look and he smirked. Temari gave a new definition to a one-track mind. If it wasn't Suna's priority, it wasn't hers and she didn't care. He was fairly sure that the word for that was fanaticism.

"The Hokage showed me Kakashi-san's records. According to them he has never even been in the same country as Okama Seiya, much less been assigned to a joint mission with her. They have had no official correspondence, no mutual friends, no ties between their clans." He hesitated and she raised an eyebrow.

"How revealing," she said dryly. "Is that all?"

"You only asked for the official statistics," he noted with a shrug, taking a drag on his cigarette. "I've learned by now not to offer my opinion without being asked for it."

"Very funny." She bent her knee, resting a foot against the books for balance and he admired her exposed legs. He wondered how Gaara felt about her wearing a skirt with her high-necked ANBU shirt and vest. Even the Kazekage had probably resigned himself to Temari's quirks without argument. He looked up at her impatient face. "Give me your assessment."

He chuckled at her impatience, then thought for a moment. "There's something strange about the situation."

Temari gave him a wry look. "Elaborate."

"Well..." Shikamaru thought for a momet, rubbing the back of his neck, thinking about how to word it. "Who would you say is the best shinobi in Konoha?"

"The Hokage, but I assume you're trying to make a point." Temari pursed her lips. "Naruto has the most pretige, and his sage powers are fairly impressive. Lee-san and Hyuuga Neji are probably the best in taijutsu, though Hinata's techniques are unsual and very effective. Sakura managed to kill an Akatsuki, and I hear that she's improved even more. Shino and Kiba are both renowned in Suna for their animal-based techniques, I don't think they're the best, but I'd spar with them. What's your point?"

"You could probably list the best out of Cloud, Rain and Mist as well, right?"

"Of course, so could you." She folded her arms, eyeing him quizzically.

"So why did the two best shinobi of a generation not ever come into contact with each other in any way?" The silence hung in their air as they both considered the question. "It doesn't sit right, it's possible that they simply never met, but the paperwork fits like a jigsaw puzzle to never connect those two. They were both students of their Yondaimes. They should have met."

Temari looked thoughtful, not speaking for a long moment. "What are you thinking?"

Shikamaru shook his head. "Nothing. I don't see any way the information forms a logical conclusion. We need more information before this will make sense."

"Some help you are," she snorted with a toss of her head. Temari turned to leave and then paused. She looked back over her shoulder. "Is that all?"

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow, "Were you expecting something else?"

"Well, considering this is your first full day with which to woo me, yes." Her voice was sultry with just a hint of playfulness. She thought this was a fine joke, he could see that much written on her face.

He shrugged and tossed her a second shougi piece. "I could serenade you if you like."

Temari caught the pawn, rolled her eyes and slipped out the window.


	4. Day 3

**Day 3**

**The Third Man**

--

Sakura wiped the sweat of her forehead with her wrist, concentrating heavily on the work before her. The soft flesh under her hands split apart, her chakra-formed surgical knives slicing through the skin and bone. She tried to force the knife into a finer point, a smaller line, focussing all her energy. The blade became sharper by an iota and she narrowed her eyes, it needed to be sharper still and she just couldn't focus it any smaller.

"Sakura-chan!"

Sakura slipped with a yelp, blood and flesh spurting across the table. She reigned in her chakra and narrowed her eyes, turning around. Naruto ran a hand through his hair sheepishly and waved. Sakura grabbed the rat she had been practising on by the tail and tossed it in the bin.

"Naruto, what are you doing here?" She walked over to the sink and washed the blood off her hands, splashing water on her face to cool herself.

"Tsunade-baachan told me to," Naruto said with a grin. "I have to learn about about medical-nin if I'm going to be Hokage."

Sakura's eyes widened in surprise. Tsunade couldn't be serious. She wasn't really going to make a fool like Naruto Hokage... was she? None of the other candidates had been sent for additional training. Then, none of the other candidates were completely oblivious to the world around them, that's why they were up for Hokage. "Tsunade-shishou hasn't talked to me about this."

"She said you were too busy to brief." The blond's oblivious smile inflamed her anger at the situation. She was used to dancing to Tsunade's tune, but this was ridiculous. Naruto asking her out every ten minutes was annoying when she was twelve, but now it was plain inconvenient. "So, Sakura-chan, do you want to-"

"No," she cut him off with a growl. She had a hospital to run, there was no time for this. "Shishou was right, I _am_ busy. Can't you annoy Ino? I have training to do."

"What are you training in?" he asked with a pout, inspecting her work carefully.

"I'm training my wind chakra," she explained, looking down her nose just a little. "My natural chakra is earth natured and I need to master wind to get a finer chakra scalpel."

"Wind chakra?" he asked with a waggle of his eyebrows. "Need some help?"

--

Kakashi opened the front door to his apartment, holding a book in front of his face. He closed the door quickly behind him, not wanting anyone outside to see the tall woman sleeping on his couch. Her face was smushed against her hand and she let out a soft snore.

The copy-nin walked past her, letting her sleep. At least she'd remembered to keep her chakra masked. He stepped over a pile of rubble that had been a part of his wall. Keeping a taijutsu master under house arrest was interesting, he noted. If it had been Gai he wouldn't have an apartment left anymore.

Entering the kitchen he lowered his book, raising an eyebrow at the mess that had been left for him. The contents of his cupboards and fridge were scattered across every surface, packages torn and liquids spilled. And it wasn't done yet. Kakashi casually dodged a pack of instant ramen, looking at the man who was busy rifling through his cupboards.

"Do you have anything in this house that isn't instant?" The man rose, his form seeming to fill the entire kitchen. The man crossed his arms, tossing his long mane of black hair. A giant scroll was strapped to his back and Kakashi couldn't help but think how much he reminded him of Jiraiya. His mask couldn't hide his enormous grin. A Mist forehead protector hung around his neck.

"Uruhana-san," Kakashi greeted with an eye-crinkling smile. "Hungry?"

"Always." One enormous hand clapped the copy-nin on the shoulder, leading him back toward the living room. "But we have bigger problems. Seiya tells me that you haven't been able to get your scroll."

"Is that..?" He indicated the scroll strapped to Uruhana's back. The man gave a booming laugh and stood the scroll on its end. Kakashi looked over his shoulder, checking to see if Seiya had woken up. The Kiri-nin spread the scroll on the floor, waving a dismissive hand. "Don't worry about her, she'd sleep through a cyclone."

The scroll held a sealing symbol and Uruhana bit his thumb, making the unsealing symbol. A dozen equally enormous scrolls spilled out onto the floor with a clatter. Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "Isn't that a bit excessive?"

Uruhana ignored him, shuffling through the scrolls instead. "Rat... turtle... lizard... ferret... Hah! Fresh from the Mizukage."

With a triumphant flourish the larger man presented one of the scrolls. Kakashi checked it over. All of the proper seals were affixed, this was the one. It seemed that he was the only one having any trouble. He glanced at the other scrolls, which Uruhana was busy restacking into the sealing scroll. "Why so many?"

"Oh," he ran a hand through his hair. "My bloodline limit, I guess you'd call it. My clan can use as many animal summons as we want. I guess we have a lot to learn about each other, don't worry, we have plenty of time."

"I don't need a reminder." Kakashi flipped his book open again, wanting to take his mind off the inevitable outcome of their mission.

Uruhana's eyes narrowed, his voice coming out with icy undertones. "You're not thinking of backing out, are you?"

"No," he replied bluntly, turning to his desk. "Take a look at these blueprints."

"This is where the scroll is?" The Kiri-nin looked over the plans, his eyes tracing the perimeter. "Basement location. I could use a couple of boss summons, crush the place."

"It's a clan area. Civillians, children."

"Your clan?"

Kakashi frowned. Sometimes plans didn't translate, and sometimes Uruhana didn't remind him at all of Jiraiya. "Not my clan, but we should try to avoid collateral damage."

"Our mission is more important than avoiding a fuss," Uruhana snorted, leaning against his scroll.

After years of working with other villages as an ANBU captain he knew how to speak their language, even if he didn't like it. "You're looking at the Nara clan halls. I'm sure that I don't need to tell you about Nara Shikamaru."

"The man who killed an immortal when he was a chuunin," Uruhana mused appreciatively. "We don't want him chasing us."

"And we're already provoking him by stealing his clan's property," Kakashi finished. "The scroll is in use, no one I've questioned knows what it's being used for. It's an enormous risk to take it at all. Nara Shikamaru is close friends with every Hokage candidate. Nara Shikaku isn't to be taken lightly either."

"Taking the scroll at midday carries the least risk of immediate reprisal." Uruhana traced a path to the scroll with his finger, then another. He cocked his head and frowned. "This might be impossible to do without causing some damage. If they were all out then maybe, but we can't walk in at midday without being noticed."

"We have one chance, but Mei won't like it."

"Why not?"

"Because it means no one will be there to greet her." He turned away from the blueprints, shoving a hand in his pocket. "There's a preliminary celebration to greet the Daimyo's entourage. The Nara clan isn't big, most of them will be there. They'll realise quickly that the scroll is gone, we'll need to make a fast exit."

Uruhana looked at the blueprints in silence, his mind calculating. He nodded in hestiant agreement. "Is that an order, taichou, or do you want to run it by Seiya when she wakes up?"

Kakashi turned for the door. "I'll get some food, when I get back we'll eat and run through the plan."

--

Sakura plodded after Naruto, almost amused by the wild goose chase she was taking him on. It would have been funnier if she wasn't neglecting the hospital to indulge him. The inner district faded behind them and she wished their hunt had led them anywhere else. The familiar lake passed them by and soon they stood in front of the wall emblazoned with the fan emblem that ran the length of the Uchiha district.

The place was like a tomb, perfectly silent, devoid of any life. It sent a chill up her spine. The macabre monument to the slaughtered clan wasn't a place that many people visitted, and no one had inhabited it since Sasuke. She didn't even know what this was all about and wanted to get out of there.

"Shikamaru!" Naruto called out, seemingly unphased by his surroundings. Sakura was surprised to see a solitary figure standing in front of the clan halls, casting a long shadow against the stone court. He looked toward them and gave a smile.

"Hey, Naruto. Sakura." He turned to them. "What's happening?"

"I heard about your bet with Temari," Naruto said suggestively, grinning rogueishly at his friend. Shikamaru blushed. "How's it going?"

"Naruto!" Sakura glowered at him, causing him to scuttle back with fear. "Don't ask such a rude question, we're not here to gossip!"

"Oh, right," he ran his hand through his hair with a sheepish smile and turned back to Shikamaru. "Do you still have Asuma's knives?"

Shikamaru raised his eyebrows and pulled out the knives. He tossed them to Naruto, who caught them smoothly, one in each hand. Naruto turned to Sakura and held out the knives, displaying as they started to glow. The chakra around them rippled and swirled before forming a razor sharp edge.

"You have to imagine that your chakra is two opposing currents, brushing closer and closer to each other, as close as you can." He punctuated the speech by hurling one of the knives at the Uchiha wall. Sakura was about to yell at him for dragging her around for four hours to find Shikamaru and provide this demonstration when her eyes registered what she was seeing. The knife had practically slid through the wall. She could barely see the mark where it had gone through. That was the sharpness she needed.

"How did you..?" The words wouldn't form in her mouth now that she was staring at the results she wanted. She dumbly took the other knife that he offered her and stared at the dead metal in her hand. Months of work and she hadn't even begun to get that sharp. Shikamaru's shadow sewing tossed the other knife back towards Naruto, who caught it deftly.

Sakura closed her eyes. She could do this, she had always been a good student. Just imagine the two currents. Her chakra was forced into the knife and it hummed pleasantly in her hand. Two currents, swirling against each other, a sharp edge. Eyes still closed, she flung the knife forward. A horrible crumbling sound hit her ears and she hesitantly opened an eye.

The wall in front of her had shattered as if she had punched it. She looked at Naruto, who still had a wince imprinted on his face. "Maybe we should practice on something else."

Sakura looked over her shoulder at the dumbfounded shadow-nin. "I'll make sure you get the knives back safe."

Shikamaru nodded, looking like he wished they'd just leave instead of wrecking the place up. Naruto looked at him, suddenly curious. "What are you doing here, anyway?"

"Hunting down something for Shiho," Shikamaru said evasively, shoving both hands deep in his pockets. He looked away, avoiding their gazes. "I can't say too much, cryptology is working a new case."

"The attacks on Wind?" Sakura asked. She smiled at his surprised look. "I _am_ the Hokage's assistant. I was there when the messages were intercepted."

Shikamaru shifted uncomfortably and Sakura narrowed her eyes. He was hiding something. She looked around the empty court, searching for the reason he was even in this district, but nothing was apparent, he must have been heading to the clan halls. There was nothing in there that could be useful, unless he suddenly developed the Sharingan.

"You can practise on the trees in the training area, they're the easiest target for those knives," Shikamaru said with finality, turning away from them and heading for the doors of the Uchiha halls.

"Hey, wait!" Naruto caught up to him and the shadow-nin's shoulder's slumped. "What does this place have to do with the attacks?"

"I can't..." Shikamaru started, still not meeting their eyes.

Naruto took an aggressive step closer and Sakura closed her eyes momentarily, a cold pit forming in her chest. He was so protective of this place, and too stupid to figure out why Shikamaru was here. The blond's voice was always louder with aggravation. "Tell me!"

"Leave him alone." Sakura placed a hand on Naruto's chest, putting a barrier between the two men. Her voice was quiet, her heart heavy. "It's Sasuke, Naruto."

"What do you mean?" His voice was wavering with anger at the accusation and she grabbed him by the wrist, dragging him away. She had accepted a long time ago that Sasuke had changed, or maybe he'd never been anything but a villain and she'd been blinded by infatuation, but Naruto refused to accept it.

"Come on," she whispered, still dragging him along. "Let's go practise at the training grounds."

--

Tsunade looked down at the sake in her hand, watching her reflection in the tiny bowl. The sun had set hours ago, she had abandoned her office for a bar. The private room was dark, barely lit by candles and swimming in shadows. She looked at the blonde sitting across from her, mask propped up on her head, also nursing a bowl of the clear liquid. At least these Suna kunoichi knew how to hold a drink.

"How has your progress been?" The Hokage sipped her drink, her eyes cast out the window across the village.

"Two ANBU saw her heading toward Konoha three days ago." Temari crossed her legs, her gaze steady. The girl was made of steel. "A civillian claims to have seen her in the residential district. She's here."

Tsunade watched the younger woman carefully. It was difficult to overcome the notion that this generation were still children. Her instincts told her that the dead end investigation needed to be taken over by someone more experienced, but she stayed the idea. There were very few people who earned renown as hunter-nin, and one of them sat before her. If anyone could find Okama Seiya, it was Temari. "What's your next course of action?"

"She's going to try something during the arrival of the Daimyo," Temari said with unerring certainty. "I'm still unsure of her intentions, but you should keep ANBU on alert during that time. She may be intending to assassinate the Daimyo. I'll continue my interviews until then."

"Shikamaru was asking me about Kakashi yesterday." The Hokage didn't want to interfere with the investigation, but the insinuation was borderline insulting. "I assume he is under surveillance."

"Not yet." Didn't even flinch at the warning tone in the older woman's voice. Damn gutsy Suna bitches, they never took a hint. "But he's considered suspicious at this point."

"You're barking up the wrong tree," Tsunade said firmly. "Kakashi is loyal to Konoha. He has sacrificed all of his friends and family for his village. He is the one person in this village that I would not suspect."

Temari threw back her sake. "I would have said the same about Seiya a week ago. I've known her since I was born, she was my father's student. Now she's going to be executed for treason. I can't ignore evidence because of past loyalty."

"I won't ask you to," Tsunade said simply, allowing the girl to pour another sake. "Kakashi will be proven innocent."

She couldn't say that the remark didn't shake her. With Shikamaru's findings and the inexplicable similarities between the missing-nin and her own copy-nin it was only a matter of time before he'd be interrogated and she wouldn't have any grounds to object. It was a difficult situation in a difficult time.

Cryptology had informed her of the possible reemergence of Uchiha Sasuke. If that hadn't been disproved by the festival she would have no choice but to reject both Sakura and Naruto as Hokage candidates. They couldn't be trusted with the resources of Konoha in that eventuality.

"Here's hoping." Temari raised her cup and Tsunade grudgingly smiled. They touched sake bowls and both women threw down the strong alcohol.

--


	5. Day 4

**Day 4**

**The Scarecrow Assassin**

--

Hyuuga Hinata perched high above the village, crouched on the stone head of the Fourth. Her byakugan was activated and she scanned the village. Her scan was aimless, looking for any abnormalities. The previous day an enormous chakra had been reported moving toward Konoha, only to disappear as it approached the village. The kind of giant, unidentified chakra signature that could belong to a missing-nin.

She knew that the examination was pointless, the chakra was gone. It made her feel better to try, though. Until Okama Seiya was found their team couldn't leave Konoha, and the woman was like a ghost. They hadn't found a single footprint, a stray hair, a drop of blood. Hinata was beginning to wonder if she was in the village at all. It wasn't like her to question the Hokage or the Kazekage, but the whole thing had the feeling of a wild goose chase. Suspicion of Kakashi was a decent reason to investigate, but she hadn't seen any grounds for not expanding the search.

The chakra signals through the village looked normal. High in Shinobi areas, low in civilian areas, all was as it should be. That could be said for a lot in Konoha. The festival preparartions were going well, there was no controversy over Rokudaime candidates, the Daimyo was due to arrive in four day's time, in all the village was peaceful. Hinata couldn't understand how this web of rumours had started or why it continued.

Malicious attacks straying near Fire's borders, missing-nin secreted amongst their population, and the latest addition, that Sasuke was behind it all. She hated hearsay, it was poison. As a respectful member of the Hyuuga house she didn't like to gossip, her father had always told her it was rude and dangerous, and she had accepted that. Now it wasn't just rude, it made investigations convoluted, it threatened the peace of Konoha.

A chakra spike caught her attention and the Hyuuga turned her eyes to her feet, shutting down her byakugan. Without turning around she waited to be greeted.

"Hinata-san, what are you doing up here?" Neji knelt beside her, looking for the source of her interest.

"It's hunter-nin business, Neji-nii-san." Hinata toyed with her fingertips, wishing she could have noticed him earlier and left.

"My byakugan is stronger than yours, I could help," he offered, looking up at her. She turned away from him, forcing her hands back to her sides. She had rid herself of that nervous twitch years ago, she wasn't going to get back into the habit over an obnoxious cousin.

"You don't have the clearance, Neji-san," she said apologetically. Why was he always like this with her? She had seen him around his friends, he wasn't a bully. If Naruto hadn't spent so long teaching her how to stand up for herself she never would have made it in ANBU. She still wasn't confident enough to tell him to go away, and he knew that.

"I'm not here to cause you trouble, Hinata." The genuine tone in his voice made her look down at him, unsure of how to respond. He was putting her in an awkward position by asking her to divulge classified information. He gave her a respectful nod. "We're family, you don't have to keep secrets."

Hinata stammered, trying to get the courage to tell him off. They both had to follow ANBU protocol, but she didn't know how to remind him of that politely. Kiba told her that she didn't always need to be polite, but it came naturally to her. "Neji-nii-san..."

She trailed off as a distant ripple of chakra caught her attention. The shock felt sharper than most chakra, and it made both Hyuugas look toward the academy. Neither needed to activate their byakugan, the chakra was familiar.

Neji climbed to his feet, ready to run toward the source. "Temari-san has drawn her weapons."

--

"Why did I let you talk me into this?" Shikamaru grumbled. He looked at Temari, her tunnel vision fixed on the training grounds ahead of them. The girl liked to train way too much, he couldn't understand how anyone could enjoy something so strenuous.

"If you're planning to win our bet you have to be nice to me." She had the most superior smirk he had ever seen. This bet was a bad idea, it increased her already exaggerated sense of entitlement.

He scoffed. "I never said I was going to be nice to you."

"Why is that?" she asked, turning as they hit the field. She had her hands on her hips, her head tilted.

"You wouldn't respect me if I was," he said with a shrug. He made sure to stand a few steps back from her. Now they were in the training grounds she was likely to pull a surprise start to their sparring. It was true that he hadn't exactly had a technique in mind when he had set this challenge. He had no idea how to get a woman interested in him, they always seemed to come to him before he had to try. But that didn't matter, because his plan didn't require much skill.

Temari gave him a look of acceptance, but didn't make any actual admission that she didn't respect people who were nice. "Then why _did_ you let me talk you into this?"

She turned away, swinging her hips just a little. If possible, it seemed like her skirt had inched up even more, exposing just a little more leg and Shikamaru snorted. Maybe that's why he'd followed her here, and no red-blooded man could question him for it. "No idea."

Temari assumed a taijutsu pose and he raised an eyebrow. She smirked. "No weapons, I don't want to be banned from sparring with you again."

Shikamaru groaned. Troublesome. He hated taijutsu, it was exhausting and sweaty, and he'd actually been looking forward to seeing her use these weapons that no one would shut up about. He didn't think she'd ever give up her old tessen, so if she found something she liked more it would be very impressive.

"You never used to use taijutsu," he drawled, assuming his own stance.

"I used to be able to draw my tessen wherever I wanted," she replied, then darted forward. Their hands clashed and he easily deflected the blow. She wasn't even trying, just testing his defenses. He fended off a couple more hits and decided to throw a few back. They toyed with each other for a few minutes and fell back.

"You're just playing with me," Shikamaru said with a roll of his eyes.

"It's been three years, I don't want to hurt you." He was about to scoff, but the look in her eyes made him stop. She was deadly serious. That was almost sweet, and the closest she had ever come to caring about his wellbeing.

"You don't have to hold back," he told her, not really wanting to hit a girl but not wanting to be pitied by one either. To demonstrate his point he delivered a soft kick to the back of her knee, causing her to stumble forward from the unexpected hit. She growled, her eyes narrowing.

She was less cautious this time, Shikamaru had to move fast to avoid taking a very serious hit. He let her push him back, losing ground but not needing to hit her to stop the assault. Temari was getting frustrated, it played plainly on her face, and he knew that he'd have to start taking it seriously or she really _would _ hurt him.

He stood his ground, not letting her get any further. After a few blocked hits she started really applying her strength. He had height and strength on her, but she was faster and more agile. He'd never really been any good at this, ninjutsu was where he could shine. But of course, for Temari no weapons meant no ninjutsu, and a man couldn't leave a woman at a disadvantage.

Thankfully Asuma had taught him one or two moves when he was younger, and when he could bear it he had trained with Neji, which put a few tricks up his sleeve. He ducked under one of her hits and, as expected, she brought her leg down over his head. He caught her ankle between his wrists and used her momentum to flip her onto her back. Much to his disappointment he discovered that she was wearing shorts under her skirt.

Temari landed with an _oof_ as all the air was pushed from her lungs. She coughed, looking up at her sparring partner in surprise. He shrugged. "I practised."

"Why?" she asked in shock, allowing him to help her up.

"You aren't the only one who I need self defense against."

Temari resumed her stance and they started trading blows again, this time with more enthusiasm. "What was her name again?"

Shikamaru dodged a kick to the head and frowned at her. She hated to talk during shougi but wouldn't shut up when they sparred. And this was not a topic he was interested in discussing with her, regardless of the setting. "Megume. Stop talking, woman."

"Megume-san," she repeated, sliding backwards smoothly to avoid his fists. "I remember her. It's good to know she kept you on your toes."

"Stop talking," he reiterated, feeling a little anger with her for continuing on this path. It was in the past, she hadn't even been around, she didn't have a right to pry. He wasn't really bitter about it, but there was a twinge of anger somewhere in his chest.

"I'm sorry." She threw a punch toward his chest and he caught it with both hands. They struggled against each other, neither strong enough to push the other back. She looked into his eyes and he felt his arms weaken. "I'm sorry that I wasn't around. I wanted to know her."

The words hit something inside him and his elbows buckled, landing him on his back. The frustration of three missed years and the sadness of a painful reminder made him lash out, dropping Temari to the ground beside him. He was surprised that she let him, she could have blocked the kick easily. His lungs hurt from landing so hard, so his voice came out as little more than a gasp. "Stop talking."

"I know this is just a game to you." Temari rolled over, pinning both his shoulders to the ground with all her weight. Why wouldn't she stop talking? "But you're my friend. It's important that you know these things."

Shikamaru was always amazed at how she could say such touching words but make them sound so detached. Sincere but completely emotionless. The words never seemed to quite hit the spot that she wanted. He just stared at her. "Consider your apology accepted."

Temari looked down at him, a strange glassiness in her eyes. "I'm sorry I wasn't at your wedding."

The pang of anger flared up and his hands moved on their own, making the symbols for his shadow sewing. She leapt to her feet, practically flying back to avoid it. Sure, she was sorry. That's why she left Konoha for the last time when his engagement was announced. That's why she only came back now. She had never liked Megume, never liked anyone as stubborn as herself.

Shadow sewing wasn't fast enough, he realised almost immediately. She had still been holding back with her taijutsu, he could barely see her as she moved. He'd need something more inventive to catch her, and he was almost prepared to put the effort in. But he couldn't do that while she wasn't using weapons, probably couldn't do it at all since he didn't know her abilities anymore.

"At least you didn't cry," her voice echoed down from a tree branch at the edge of the training field. He almost laughed, she could be such a bitch sometimes. His humour was stilled as she reached behind her, drawing her two small tessens. A smirk graced her face. "We can stop playing now."

The two fans swung open, a wicked blade glinting along each edge, and Shikamaru stepped back. He reached for Asuma's knives and cursed, remembering that he had loaned them to Sakura. He'd have to rely on good old fashioned trickery to win this. Temari held her fans like a dancer, obscuring most of her body. She gave him a sexy smirk and swiped outward.

For a moment the air was perfectly still and Shikamaru wondered what it was supposed to do. A low rumble filled the air. He was suddenly on his back, his feet knocked out from under him and the ground seeming the shake beneath him. The shock passed quickly and he sat up, looking up at Temari. She tossed her hair and looked down her nose at him. It took him a moment to realise that all of the grass around him had been torn to shreds, in fact almost the entire training ground had been.

"So that's why she can't draw in the village," he mumbled, climbing to his feet. Interesting, and he had been right, it was very impressive. She had barely touched her chakra with that attack. Still, he could beat her, she was always shortsighted in battle. The Scarecrow Assassin, he scoffed. Suna was giving out titles too easily.

"Temari-san!" A voice from the edge of the training ground caught both of their attention. Hyuuga Neji landed on one of the trees, Hinata coming in a few steps behind him. "Please sheath your weapons."

Temari glared at the Hyuuga, not moving an inch. Shikamaru also narrowed his eyes. This wasn't a good time to be interrupted, but it was a distraction. She was still too fast for his shadows, but then, she was the one always telling him that he should practise his taijutsu.

"Temari-san," Neji repeated, but Shikamaru didn't give him a chance to finish his sentence. While Temari was still looking at the two ANBU, he rushed toward her.

--

Tsunade rested her chin on her hands, her eyes closed. This whole thing was bringing on a headache. It was a moment when she was lost for words, astounded but not particularly surprised by her current predicament. She opened her eyes again and examined the four sulking shinobi in front of her. It would have been amusing if it weren't so very poorly timed.

"So am I to understand that the search for Okama Seiya is going well?" she addressed the question to Temari, who was nursing a giant bruise on her jaw. The bone was probably broken, but she'd decided that they wouldn't be healed until they'd all explained themselves.

"It was only sparring, Tsunade-sama," Temari said with a pout.

"Would you care to explain to me how three ANBU and my top strategist brawling in the middle of the training field qualifies as _sparring_?" It was too comical for her to be angry about, although she needed to have words with Temari about destroying their training fields. She made no mistake, a punishment needed to be handed down, but this would definitely make a good story at the bar. The four nin were silent.

Hinata moaned, still holding her forehead. The poor girl had taken quite a blow, but Neji and Shikamaru had come out the worst. The Hyuuga had taken the brunt of Temari's fanwork, he had a few nasty cuts and needed a new uniform. The Nara was leaning heavily to one side, his leg broken. Tsunade was impressed that Hinata had managed to break the femur with a single strike, although it had probably been an accident.

"Sit down, Nara," the Hokage ordered. He obeyed without complaint, looking a little faint. "I expected this from _some_ of you as children, but as adults I expect more from all of you."

"Troublesome," Shikamaru muttered, still looking like he was about to pass out. He glanced at Temari. "Did I break your jaw?"

"Yes," she gritted out, giving him a glare that suggested their location was the only thing keeping her from returning the favour.

"Does that mean I won?"

"Enough!" Tsunade rose to her feet, slamming her hands on the desk. "Nara, you are banned from sparring with Temari, _again, _and you're to confine your work to the cryptology unit until these messages have been deciphered. Hinata, I'll remind you that hunter-nin are not a disciplinary force, leave it to your cousin in the future, and I'm assigning you full time to the Okama Seiya case. Neji, engaging a foreign ANBU for sparring is... at best... a mistake. You're going to be Hinata's assistant until Temari has left Konoha. I've also informed Hiashi of these events. You will _all_ be helping with festival preparations. Temari, I'll be writing to Gaara, he can handle your punishment. Dismissed."

The three Konoha-nin just grumbled and moaned, none of them in any state to object. Temari, however, had lost all of her colour, her mouth hanging open. She didn't move as the others shuffled out miserably.

"Tsunade-sama," Temari gasped, still holding her jaw. "Please, do not send word of this to Gaara."

Tsunade looked at the younger woman in surprise, she was genuinely afraid. She folded her arms and sat back in her chair. "It's not like you to fear punishment, Temari-san."

"I don't fear punishment," the Suna-nin snitted, looking offended by the very concept. "However the situation in Suna... does not lend itself toward controversy."

Controversy? A fairly generous word for the events of the day. Having a fight broken up by ANBU wasn't very becoming, but it wasn't a controversy, not under normal circumstances. The realisation dawned on the Hokage and she smiled. "If the rumours surrounding the Kazekage's office are true, this would be a very inconvenient time for bad behaviour."

"If they were true I would agree with you," the Suna-nin replied diplomatically.

Tsunade nodded. She couldn't screw with the girl this badly. "While you are in Konoha, regardless of the circumstance, if my ANBU ask you to lower your weapons I expect you to do so."

Temari kept her gaze even and proud, still unwilling to admit fault. "Understood."

"But," Tsunade continued, a smile forming on her lips. "If you'd like me to forget about this incident I have a personal project that I could use some help on."

--


	6. Day 5

**Day 5**

**Times Past**

--

Shikamaru rubbed his leg, it still ached even after the bone was healed. He hadn't known Hinata had that in her. Chouji chuckled beside him, and he knew that he given his old team even more ammunition against him with that little stunt. And stuck himself in cryptology. And broken Temari's jaw. Sure, his plan didn't really require a lot of skill, but it also didn't account for personal assault.

The clouds drifted by, quietly accompanied by Chouji's munching. His bench on the rooftop was so welcoming, he didn't feel like working, it was definitely a day for self-pity.

"Aren't you supposed to be in cryptology?" the larger man asked, mouth still full of chips.

"Shiho's covering for me." Shikamaru couldn't understand for the life of him why that girl was so nice to him. Whatever he asked for she was only too happy to provide. Between that and the constant stammering and blushing it was like she was in love with him or something.

"So apart from breaking her jaw, how's it going with Temari?" Chouji wasn't prying like a lot of people had been, he was actually concerned. Shikamaru hadn't realised he was creating such hot gossip when he set the challenge.

"She wanted to talk about Megume yesterday," he said with a grunt. "Said sorry for not being at the wedding."

Chouji looked speculative. "Weird. Tema-chan's not usually like that."

"No, she's not," Shikamaru grumbled, his good mood soured a little. "She called me her friend."

"Hah!" Chouji grinned, his hand plunging back into the bag of chips. He towered over his friend, in fact he had at least a half a foot in height over most people in Konoha. "That's definitely not like her."

"She's being weird. Talking even more than usual. Being sincere." Shikamaru chuckled, dragging his eyes away from his teammate and looking up at the clouds. "Like she's guilty. You think she killed her?"

Chouji frowned. "You shouldn't joke about that."

A pang of guilt hit Shikamaru. Chouji was right, he shouldn't be joking about it, but he needed something to lighten the situation. The whole thing weighed on him too thickly. Gossip about him and Temari would inevitably turn sour, he could almost feel the judgement of his fellow shinobi resting on his shoulders. Had he waited long enough? What was the official grieving period and if it wasn't long enough was he really over her? Was he ever supposed to be? It still hurt, of course it did, he expected that it always would, that didn't mean he could shut himself off forever. Death was part of a shinobi's life.

"I'm not trying to be harsh." He sat up, lighting a cigarette. "It's time to move on, and I like Temari."

There was a brief silence as he realised that he'd never said it out loud before. The statement sat awkwardly in the air.

Chouji shifted uncomfortably. "Why?"

Shikamaru laughed honestly, the weight on his chest lifting a little. That was the great big question that had always hung between him and the Sand kunoichi. Why? What did they have in common or of interest or by way of any reasonable explanation that would justify the amount of effort a relationship would take? Nothing. "Let me get the first kiss and then we'll talk about why."

"Asuma-sensei would think this was funny."

Shikamaru smiled. He could almost see their old sensei roaring with laughter when he heard about this, covering him with smoke and giving him some sage advice. He had a feeling that Asuma would approve. "He'd think it was hilarious."

"What'd Kurenai say?"

"That I'm too old for games now." He blew a billowing cloud of smoke into the sky, smiling at the memory. Kurenai indulged him too much. "She liked it, though. Asumaru thought it was funny, but he's still a bit young to understand."

"Shikamaru-nii-san! Chouji-nii-san!" A small figure came bounding across the rooftops, landing in front of them with a big smile. "Good morning!"

Shikamaru smiled at the boy, blessed with his mother's red eyes and his father's square jawline, and their shared thick black hair. "Good morning, Asumaru-chan."

They boy handed over a scroll with Hokage's seal, puffing out his chest proudly. He had just entered the academy, and as Asuma's son he'd been given a few chores to do by Tsunade. The kid couldn't have been more big-headed about it. "Godaime-sama gave me this to give to you."

Shikamaru opened the scroll and read it. He looked at Chouji with a grimace. "This is bad."

--

The Hokage's office was crowded, the small room trying to occupy all the concerned parties. Hinata had been stuffed in a corner before Naruto hauled her forward, forcing her to the front of the group. She didn't want to be there, it was the place she was most likely to bear the wrath of the furious Suna hunter-nin. Temari was given a wide berth by everyone as her chakra rippled outward in smouldering, murderous waves.

Shikamaru stood with Shiho near the door, in front of them were three Suna ANBU, then Neji and his team, Hinata's own team stood beside them, Kankurou stood several feet from Temari, equally angry, neither of them acknowledging the other. All stared at the Godaime, flanked by Sakura and Naruto.

"What do you mean _stolen_?" Temari seethed, her arms crossed, hands fidgetting.

"I mean _stolen_!" The Hokage roared, fists thumping against her desk. The whole room ducked as a paperweight was flung randomly, embedding itself in the wall. "Don't ask stupid questions!"

"No one steals from Gaara," Kankurou hissed, his fingers twitching as if he was already using his puppets on the perpetrator.

"Apparently they do!" Tsunade's temper was fraying quickly. "Does anyone have anything constructive to add to this?"

"D-d-d-" Hinata stammered, turning a violent shade of red as she realised everyone was staring at her. Her mouth froze up as she tried to get her tongue to cooperate. Everyone was looking impatient with her and she wished the ground would just open up and swallow her. Why did she have to be so bad at this? "Do we know who did it?"

"Why?" Neji interrupted. "Why did they steal it, what is it's value?"

"Nothing," Tsunade said calmly, her anger subsiding. "But they don't know that. The scroll is the Fire Seal scroll, used the seal objects or people into oblivion, a space between heaven and hell. It's a mid level ritual, useable on small areas no bigger than 100 metres across. That's what the real scroll does. However, the one that was stolen was a fake."

The silence was thick.

"Was Gaara expecting a thief?" Shikamaru spoke up, his drawl filling the air.

Tsunade shook her head. "Any further information is classified."

"_Classified_?" Temari exploded. Hinata giggled softly to herself. She'd never heard the Suna-nin reach quite that pitch before. "Tsunade-sama, everyone here has the highest security clearance. We can-"

She was cut off by the loud, firm voice of the Hokage. "Everyone here has the second highest security clearance. The highest clearance is Kage and Daimyo."

Hinata glanced between the two larger than life blondes. Time seemed to stand still around them as the statement sunk in. Hinata wasn't stupid. She knew what a Kage clearance meant, it meant that this was top secret, something that the villages didn't want related back to them. It meant that whatever this scroll was it was far more important than a simple ritual sealing.

"Are you-" Temari was cut off once more, her chakra expanding with anger, sending ripples through the air. Everyone inched back except Kankurou, who hunched over the Hokage's desk, the binding scrolls trembling on his back, aching to break free.

Tsunade stood up, pushing back the furious chakra in the air with her own imposing presence. Even the two Suna-nin stepped back from her. Hinata whimpered, physically unfortable from the amount of chakra radiating throughout the room. "We are operating under the assumption that this was an independent act. The possibility that Okama Seiya is involved is not to be considered unless further evidence indicates it. You are all dismissed."

"Tsunade-"

"_Dismissed_!" the Hokage roared, leaving no room for argument.

--

Tsunade hung her head, silence echoing in the empty office. It wasn't often that she pissed off half her ANBU, but this was a special occasion. An attempt was made on the first scroll. If it wasn't for Gaara's forethought it would have been gone. It might have been intended to be used in its singular. It was one of a rare collection, after all, and its powers could be very useful for the right cause.

The Hokage's office came with a lot of secrets. Forbidden techniques, historical scandals, and on occasion, deals with the devil. But it wasn't through her position that she learned of the three Fire Seals. She had unwittingly been there when they were created, and still had nightmares of the hell it could create.

Three scrolls, the destruction of countless lives, the ability to anihilate an area hundreds of kilometres across. And nothing so merciful as sending those souls to heaven. A last resort, permanent solution to a very big problem. Enough to wipe out a hidden village. There were conditions, of course. It required three people. One genjutsu user, one taijutsu and one ninjutsu. The three scrolls needed to be placed at the correct bearings over the desired distance, and at the epicentre of the destruction a priest of Fire, one of the Daimyo's personal retinue. An almost impossible scenario. The three required masters would be affiliated with villages, the three scrolls in possession of the Kages, and as such without the support of all three villages and the Daimyo it would take an incredibly organised conspiracy to enact the ritual.

The unfortunate truth was that if Okama Seiya had tried to take that scroll, it was a very real possibility. One high level defection could mean others in the foreseeable future. One from Sand, one from Mist and one from Konoha was all it could take. Gaara had thought ahead on security, which was a saving grace. In Mist there was a different attitude toward crime. It was generally considered that if a shinobi was strong enough to a commit a crime then he deserved his prize, and the security force needed more training. It was very unlikely that any such countermeasures had been taken, regardless of the scroll's value.

Her own scroll was safe. Shikamaru had asked for a means of sealing an area against interference, he hadn't specified the reason and she hadn't asked many questions. Even back then he was the best protection the village had to offer. Deep inside the Nara clan halls, protected personally by their strongest member, it was better than anything she could have wished for. Best of all, the boy didn't even realise what he was protecting.

Yes, they were safe. For now.

--


	7. Day 6

**Day 6**

**A Forest Tomb**

--

Grey light filtered through the trees, casting long shadows in the morning light. The forest was still, the deer still asleep, only the occasional chirp of crickets disturbing the quiet. Deer ambled around the grounds, their soft muzzles pressing into the grass for food and occasionally turning to the man who sat in a silent clearing, smoke trailing from a cigarette. He was the only one they would allow to visit this place.

Shikamaru's eyes were fixed on the cold ground, a perfect circle where no grass would grow. He wasn't even sure why he was there. Maybe he just needed to see with his own eyes that it was still there, still sealed, still safe. The circle had about an eight metre diameter, which was far below the capabilities of the ritual scroll he had used to seal it, but he hadn't wanted to catch any deer in the jutsu.

_The Fire Seal scroll, used the seal objects or people into oblivion, a space between heaven and hell. It's a mid level ritual, useable on small areas no bigger than 100 metres across. _Tsunade must have thought he was an idiot if she didn't think he'd figure this out. The scroll that was stolen was the same as the one he'd used here, on Hidan's resting place. The fact that there was more than one of these things was probably the classified information, knowledge so dangerous that even ANBU couldn't be trusted with it.

More importantly for him, Okama Seiya may have been after more than one. She could have come to Konoha to steal the scroll that sealed his immortal. That was dangerous. It was true that Hidan was secure even without the seal, and he had asked Tsunade for the scroll mainly to stop the muffled screaming sounds that were upsetting the deer, but after ten years of having that extra protection he would feel exposed without it. The Nara forest was off limits to almost everyone, but it wasn't something he liked to chance.

Hidan had killed Asuma, his mentor, the only man outside his family who had ever understood and accepted him. He wouldn't have been any kind of man without him. Still, he hoped that losing the seal wouldn't matter. After the anger and hurt had faded they gave way to mercy, and Shikamaru prayed that Hidan had released whatever black magics kept him alive before the seal had gone in place. Once it was down, there was no death, there was no escape. Just a man trapped under a pile of rocks for all eternity, still aware of himself. Not even a monster like Hidan deserved that.

"You usually cloudwatch instead of groundwatch." Temari's voice beside him made him jump. She sat next to him, staring up at the sky and he wondered how long she had been there. "Something on your mind?"

"Nothing," he replied, tossing his cigarette butt on the ground. The deer were skittish with another presence in the forest, only the Nara clan was allowed here.

"The pattern of the grass is interesting," Temari murmured without looking down. "It's unusual to have such a large circle of bare ground."

He scoffed. Just like her to figure it out, not that she'd figured out much, just that there was an abnormality. Tsunade didn't even want him knowing about the multiple scrolls, he doubted she'd appreciate him informing foreign ANBU. And he didn't like the idea of anyone else knowing about this grave site. "It's an old building site, abandoned before I was born."

It was her turn to scoff. "Right."

She didn't ask anymore questions, and he liked that about her. He didn't want to talk about it and she didn't need to know everything. "What are you doing here?"

"It's going to be a busy day, I thought I'd collect my shougi piece early." This time she looked down from the sky, her penetrating teal eyes meeting his. He smiled and obediently handed over the piece. Temari looked thoughtful. "It's day six and you haven't made a single move. Why are you so confident that I'll kiss you?"

Shikamaru shrugged. "Because you already want to."

Temari laughed outright at this, making a show of wiping tears from her eyes. Shikamaru smirked as he saw just the tiniest hint of uncertainty, her eyes flicking to his lips and back to his eyes. She recomposed her mask of confidence. "Then why the 39 days? Why not just kiss me if you think I'm so willing?"

"Because 39 days should be long enough for you to swallow your pride." He made sure to keep a steady gaze as he said the words, knowing that revealing that fact to her would only inflame said pride. She gave him a critical look, appraising him, assessing the situation.

Shikamaru stood up, not letting her answer. He started pacing the circumference of the seal in front of them, his mind tossing the situation over. It was an interesting game to be playing. For a person to feel as if their pride wasn't needed as a defence they needed to feel safe. He would have to sacrifice his own pride and allow a measure of vulnerability if he wanted Temari to do the same.

He beckoned her over, stepping inside the circle. The chill that hit him was familiar, but it had freaked him out the first time he was in here. A shiver ran down his spine and he could swear that he heard screaming. Temari stepped in beside him and baulked, visibly shaking. Her voice was quiet when she spoke. "What is this place really?"

"Hidan's grave," he replied, lighting up another cigarette and stepping out of the circle. Temari didn't move, staring at the ground. She kicked up the sand, drawing circles with the tips of her toes, as if trying to see what was underneath the surface. "You'll just find more sand. The area is sealed."

She looked at him, the horrible realisation settling on her. "You buried him alive."

Shikamaru shrugged. It wasn't like he had much of a choice. "He's immortal, I couldn't kill him."

"They all tell me that you're smart, crybaby." Temari knelt, her fingers sifting through the sand. She brought it to her nose, as if she could glean more information from it. "That was a very dangerous decision to make."

"I didn't have a choice," he grumbled, sticking his hands in his pockets. "What would you have done, woman?"

"Dissected his brain until I found what made him tick," she said simply, stepping out of the circle. "Spread his bodyparts over a thousand locations. You haven't told the Hokage about this, have you?"

"No. The fewer people who know about this, the more secure it is."

"Then you shouldn't have told me. Especially not since people from Suna are running around stealing seals." She leapt to a low branch, surveying the area, probably looking for any other signs of defense.

Shikamaru shrugged, not answering. He knew that if he was going to tell anyone it shouldn't have been someone from outside the village, but he trusted her. Though it was just like her to connect the stolen seal with the seal on this place, that was what he liked and hated about her. She was too smart sometimes, she made trouble where there didn't need to be any. He trusted her not to use the information that she'd learned against him, but that didn't mean she wouldn't catch on to the Hokage's secret and confront her.

"He's trapped between heaven and hell, isn't he?" Temari was facing away from him, preparing to head back to the village.

Damn her. Too smart. "I think it's just a different hell."

"He can't die, can't return to life, he's still aware down there isn't he?" She pulled her mask down over her face and looked back at him. His silence was her answer and she nodded. "I'll see you later."

In the blink of an eye she was beside him, facing away. Shikamaru jumped at the shock of her sudden proximity. He stood stock still as she brought a hand to his face and ran one finger down his lips. Then she was gone.

Shikamaru looked in the direction that she had left in, wondering what the hell she was playing at. He touched his lips, the taste of her skin just lingering.

--

Temari sailed above the village, her eyes scanning for the mop of yellow hair. Tsunade had a bizarre idea of revenge, but effective nonetheless. She couldn't risk news of her little stunt with the ANBU making it back to Suna, Gaara did not need anymore stress. And Baki would have her head. So she was stuck with the task the Hokage had set her.

It was all Shikamaru's fault, really. She would have dropped her weapons if he hadn't chosen that moment to lunge at her and break her jaw. He wasn't getting away with that without some punishment. Which Hinata had delivered quite effectively, much to her surprise. Either way it was all his fault and it wasn't making his challenge look any more appealing.

The first move is always a feint. That was Shikamaru's motto, she knew it all too well. He made it look like what he was planning was so obvious, like he wasn't hiding anything, then when his target was right where he wanted them the jaws of his trap snapped shut. It was always brilliant and decisive, so no matter how transparent he pretended to be, she knew that he had something else in mind. But there lay the problem, because she knew that his first move was a feint, but she could never for the life of her figure out the second move.

"Temari!" Naruto waved up at her as she circled overhead. She nodded to him and dropped to the ground, her fans snapping shut. He was on the largest training field, and she examined the devestation he had caused curiously. She'd heard about his sage powers but never seen them in action. Sakura stood beside him, looking like she was ready to pound him into a pile of mush.

"Naruto-kun, Sakura-san." She strapped her fans to her back and regarded them. "The Hokage sent me."

"Oh, great," Naruto smiled, running a hand through his hair. Then he looked confused. "For what?"

"Sakura-san, you're needed at the hospital," she said to the pink haired girl.

The look of relief on her face was almost comical. She glared at Naruto. "I'll see you later. Thanks, Temari."

"Bye, Sakura," Naruto called after her obliviously. Temari watched him carefuly, scrutinising him as he watched his teammate leave. How could anyone think that this fool was ready to be Hokage? He couldn't even see when someone wanted to murder him where he stood.

She strode out to the middle of the field and he followed behind her. "You're teaching Sakura how to use wind element. And not doing very well. I'm here to help you."

"Oh, that's okay, Temari," he said with a grin. "I already know how to use wind element. Have you seen my wind rasen-shuriken?"

"Baka," she growled, although part of her hoped that he's show her the technique. It was said to be extremely powerful and as it happened she hadn't seen it. "I'm not here to teach you how to use wind, I'm here to teach you how to teach."

"Oh." Naruto's face fell. "That's right, you used to be a teacher. But why did Tsunade-baachan send you?"

"That's not important," she affirmed, getting down to business before he could ask more questions. "Let's go through what you've taught her so far."

Naruto repeated the speech and demonstration that he'd started Sakura out with. He hurled Asuma's knife toward a tree but she caught it, uninterested in seeing the result. This was going to be a big job. The blond gawked at her. "How did you catch that?"

She raised an eyebrow. "You're a jounin and you can't catch a knife?"

"Not like that," he said, looking a bit put off. "That had wind chakra in it, it should have cut your hand off."

Temari just stared at him, constantly in awe of the standards Konoha kept for its elite. She decided to try to keep this lesson on topic so that he would make as little conversation as possible. "So now Sakura understands how wind chakra works, what training exercises are you giving her?"

"I'm teaching her to use the knives," he said with a firm nod.

"These knives require a mastery of elemental chakra to use. Sakura uses fire natured chakra every day for medical ninjutsu, if she tried to use this straight away she'd just demolish her target instead of slicing it." As she talked Temari looked around the training field at the trees that had been levelled and inwardly sighed. "Was this how you trained your wind chakra?"

Knowing the baka he probably _had_ simply persisted at this until he achieved success, but genin had the time for that sort of thing, he couldn't possibly expect the head of the hospital to spend the next few years mastering this.

Naruto shook his head, "No, but I was using shadow clones. Sakura doesn't have the chakra for that."

It was all becoming clear, how this misguided moron had managed to master the technique. She would have thought that he couldn't do it in a thousand years and she hadn't been all that wrong. Temari wasn't too familiar with a lot of the Leaf nin, but Sakura was someone who she had enormous respect for, she had helped institute the policy of one medical nin on every squad in Suna a few years ago while Temari was still a diplomat and they had spent a lot of time together. If there was one thing that she was certain of, it was that the pink haired nin didn't need the same amount of training time as Naruto. "Sakura is a prodigy of chakra control and has already mastered three elements. She doesn't need shadow clones."

"I'll start her on the leaf training," he said thoughtfully. "But I can't make a waterfall."

Temari didn't ask what he meant, she didn't want to know. Tsunade asked her to correct his teaching technique, and when he screwed up again, she'd correct him again. "Whatever, you'd better go find Sakura, she's figured out by now that she isn't needed at the hospital."

"Hey, Temari," Naruto called her attention to him with a suggestive leer. "How's Shikamaru?"

Temari almost laughed, and couldn't help a smirk. She hated people talking about her. Well, she hated people knowing about her, so if they had to talk she'd rather their rumous have no grounds in reality. "He's great, we've been making out all morning."

She turned her back on Naruto's gape and strolled out of the training field.


	8. Day 7

**A/N:** I've decided to post this chapter early since I'll be offline for a while. I don't know if the internationals have heard, but Australia is currently suffering the worst natural disaster in our history. 46 bushfire fronts are still burning in my home state, my hometown is half gone, a lot of my friends and family are still under threat and everyone is in a state of grief.

I'm not sure how long the recovery will take, and I'm currently in a bit of a state since all I can offer my loved ones is emotional support, but if you're a religious type I'll ask you to keep the many victims in your prayers.

**RIP the 130 dead and counting.**

**--**

**Day 7**

**The Heist**

**--**

Kakashi reviewed the blueprints, seemingly unable to drag his eyes away from the map. He ran through it again and again in his mind. He had been on hundreds of missions over the past twenty-five years, risked his life, bordered on death a dozen times. He had been mentally tortured by Uchiha Itachi, physically mutilated by Akatsuki, he had plucked the eyes from his best friend and watched everyone he loved die. But he only had butterflies in his stomach from two missions. His very first mission as a genin, and this one.

The countdown was done, the Daimyo's entourage had already been spotted moving toward the village, they'd be there in less than an hour. He had pounded out the plan with Seiya and Uruhana for days now, working through every scenario, leaving no possibility of failure. He wasn't afraid to fail and he wasn't afraid to die, because the flat truth of it was that there was no ninja in the village that could combat all three of them at once, not even Naruto. No, the thing that had his stomach churning was that there was no price too great for success. If Naruto confronted them, they'd kill him, and the same went for anyone who got in their way.

Maybe the more disturbing thing was that his team was perfectly calm. Neither of them would think twice about the potential slaughter. It had taken a direct order for them to agree to countermeasures to prevent it.

Seiya stood at the window as usual, watching the people pass by. She liked to watch the civillians, there were so few in Suna that ordinary people fascinated her. He looked up at her, feeling tired but trying not to show it. "Are you prepared for your mission?"

"Yes, taichou," she replied quietly, showing no fear although she had the most dangerous and taxing task of all. Their double-pronged attack would hinge entirely on her performance. Now that Suna was aware of the first scroll being missing she was in danger without provoking any further ire.

He glanced at Uruhana, who looked as if he was still asleep. It wasn't the case, Kakashi knew, but he didn't ask any questions of the larger man. It was time for them to move into position. He ran through his supplies, triple checking everything. He felt like he hadn't slept in days, and knew that it was a dangerous state to be in when heading into an important mission.

"Kakashi-taichou," Seiya spoke, turning back from the window to look at him. "Can I speak plainly?"

He nodded, sitting back to listen to her. "Go ahead."

"You're hesitant to attack Fire." She said, letting the statement settle in the air and not elaborating.

"I'm not happy to be attacking Fire," he corrected. "I'm not hesitant. You worry about your mission, don't be thinking about mine."

She nodded, accepting the statement. "With your assurance, taichou, I won't worry."

That was their problem and their advantage. Neither of his teammates would challenge him, because he was their captain. Kirigakure and Sunagakure were not known for their free thinking, and that was the only reason that he was grateful for their upbringing. So long as he was in authority, and obeying those who were in charge of him, they would never speak a word against him. He looked at them. They weren't even phased by the ramifications of their actions, because in their minds, none of this was their fault. They were following orders.

"Come on." He strapped his weapons pouch around his hips and headed for the door. "It's time to get into position."

--

People lined the streets of Konoha, civillians and shinobi mingling with each other in excited chatter and boisterous anticipation. There was no parade for the arrival of the Daimyo, but the arrival of his entourage was almost as big an event. People born and bred in Konoha, unused to the big city or the spectacle of royalty, were always more than excited to catch a glimpse of the exotic sight.

Hinata stood impassive in the crowd, covered in a long cloak and hidden behind her mask. She was one of dozens of ANBU dispersed through the crowd, waiting for any sign of suspicious behaviour. Tsunade and Temari were both convinced that Okama Seiya was planning something during the arrival. Every high level shinobi was on edge, many had stayed at home with their families. Shikamaru had informed her that he may have been absent from the proceedings, but she saw him in the crowd, shifting with anxiety.

Hinata was glad for her mask, she was still in shock from the lecture she and Neji had received the previous night from her father. Hiashi had not been pleased with their brawl on the training fields, and until she succeeded him as heir to the clan she was still under his supervision. She hadn't spoken to Neji about the orders Tsunade had given, he wasn't comfortable with the situation and she didn't want to pressure him into obeying. She had no need for an assistant and was only too happy to forget the Hokage's order.

The celebrations going on around her only served to make her mood sink lower. She was constantly aware of a barrier between herself and the other citizens of Leaf, never moreso than on a day like this. Maybe she should have asked Sai to borrow his books while he was still reading them. He seemed to have integrated into society over the years in a way that she couldn't copy.

The sudden reaction of the crowd snapped her back to reality. A movement by the gates set off a murmur through the gathered crowd. Hinata pushed to the front, so that she stood by the roadside. The other hooded ANBU copied her, moving forward to control the crowd. No one would try to step past them. It also sent a clear message to Okama Seiya, if she was watching.

Hinata watched as the procession advanced, heading for the Hokage's building, where they would be greeted. They moved at an achingly slow pace, and she knew that she wasn't the only one nervous. The other ANBU kept perfectly calm visages, but it was easy to do under their cloaks and masks. The tiny twitches of fingers, shifts in weight and small darting movements of their heads gave them away to a trained eye. Every step that the Daimyo and his accompaniment made was another second that they could be attacked, or worse, another part of the village could be attacked while there was no one around to defend it.

With a whispered word Hinata activated her byakugan, making sure that she had full visibility. She watched the crowd behind her, the road in front of her and the skies above her. Danger could come from any direction. The first of the entourage began to pass her by. The entirety of the Daimyo's travelling staff were on show today, from his personal guard to his chefs and hairdressers. It was always entertaining to watch, the kind of luxury displayed in this procession was never experienced in Konoha. As a Hyuuga, Hinata knew about upper class living, but even she couldn't imagine how the Daimyo found his tailors so necessary that he couldn't travel without them.

The people passed her by at an agonisingly slow speed, each one a colourful flower in royal silks and glittering jewelry. The crowds gasped and murmured, whispering to each other as they were passed by. The guard compliment marched in straight lines, glistening sowrds displayed to the crowds. The best from Konohagakure no Sato, or at least, those who would be the best in years to come. Hinata herself had been offered a place on the guard, but had denied it at her father's wishes, the heir couldn't leave Konoha. Still, she did see one familiar face in the lines and resisted the urge to wave to Hanabi.

The foot soldiers flanked the main event. A wooden litter, carried by four of the guards. White silk fluttered in the breeze, showing glipses of the elaborately carved seat and making the crowd push forward, standing on tiptoes to try to see the passenger. All they could catch were brief glances at the young man, who seemed completely unphased by the number of people who had come out to see him.

On either side of the litter a single person walked, and Hinata recognised them as the clergy. One priest and one priestess of the Hinokami, there to oversee the festival. She couldn't see the man, but the woman made her narrow her eyes. She was middle aged, with exotic features, uncommon to the people of the Fire country. Ash blonde hair blue in wisps around her face, made even paler by her entirely white dressings. A pair of blue eyes stared out at the crowd as the older woman graciously waved and bowed. She may have been smiling, but the white cloth that covered her hair also covered most of her face.

Hinata peeled off from the crowd, indicating for her counterpart to do the same. She took up pace beside the priestess, who gave her an inquisitive glance but said nothing. It was a reasonable action, Hinata decided, to immediately approach anyone of suspicious nature, even part of the Daimyo's entourage. It had taken her a very long time to be able to approach anyone, but behind her mask she felt safe.

"What's your name?" she asked quietly, not distracting the woman from the crowd.

"Buki Mei," she replied, not looking away from the people. "Priestess of the Hinokami in the service of the Fire Daimyo."

"Why is your face covered, Mei-san?" Hinata tried to keep the conversation quiet, not wanting to interrupt the celebrations or disturb the Daimyo.

"For modesty, ANBU-chan," the older woman replied, completely unphased by the questioning. "It is tradition for the priestesses in my homeland, the Land of Rain."

The answer made Hinata stiffen, Amagakure was not a place that anyone liked to be associated with, but this priestess admitted it freely. "How long have you been in the service of Fire?"

"Twenty-eight years," she murmured, finally turning to look at Hinata. "Since the death of the Yondaime Amekage."

Hinata nodded, still eyeing the woman suspiciously. A defector from the cult. She must have been young back then, no older than ten or twelve, so her parents would have been the ones to secret her away from the Land of Rain. She asked no more questions, but kept her pace beside the Daimyo.

They approached the Hokage's building, the procession fanning out to allow the litter direct access to the Hokage, who stood awaiting them with Sakura at her side. Hinata held her place before the end of the crowd, letting the litter go ahead unhindered. Suspicions aside, she couldn't confront anyone in the middle of a diplomatic greeting. The four guards carrying the litter knelt before Tsunade, lowering the chair so that the Daimyo could step out.

Hinata's byakugan picked up movement in the crowd. Not civillian, it was too fast. It was too fast for her to even see properly, she couldn't fix the source. She held up a hand, halting the proceedings and bringing the nearest ANBU to her side. Tsunade stiffened and the guards jumped to their feet, swords drawn and waiting.

"What is it?" Tsunade asked with a note of aggravation.

"Someone is coming this way," Hinata replied, still scanning furiously, trying to get a fix on the blur. She drew twin kunai and pointed. "Over there!"

Before any of the guards could react, the blur burst through the crowd and shot toward the Daimyo. The clash of metal rang out through the air.

The kunai that would have pierced the Daimyo's eye quivered in the air, caught between two shining tessens. Chaos erupted. Screams and shouts ran through the crowd, and most of the civillians started to run. The Daimyo's entourage were torn between running for safety and their duty to stand by him, his guards all clamoured to attack the aggressor, surrounding the small standoff but not advancing. The Konoha shinobi were yelling orders to each other, some still in shock from the sudden attack.

Temari strained under the pressure, Okama Seiya staring her down as she pushed against the tessen shield. The two closed fans held the weapon in place, the younger jounin acting as a human shield for the Daimyo, but it was obvious who was the stronger woman. Temari buckled under the force, her arms bending and quaking. Hinata could see what was going to happen but couldn't stop it.

Before anyone could move, Seiya kicked out Temari's legs, slamming her other foot down into the younger woman's head. Temari flew backwards, slamming into the ground and skidding through the guards. Shikamaru was at her side instantly, pulling her out of the line of fire. Seiya seized the Daimyo around the neck and leapt backward, heading for the rooftops. Hinata followed. The only person who could match her speed was Rock Lee, and he was out of the village on a mission, so she would have to substitute. If she could shut down the older woman's chakra circulatory system then she might be able to cripple her speed.

The two women caught each other's eyes in midair and Seiya's eyes narrowed in a malicious grin. "Hyuuga?"

Hinata nodded proudly, her jaw set in determination. The Daimyo had to be saved. They landed on the roof of the Hokage's building, the Suna-nin held a kunai to the Daimyo's throat. The young man was brave, he kept a calm face, but was betrayed by his sickeningly pale colour. He was terrified. The rest of the shinobi stood back, not wanting Seiya to execute her hostage.

"Are you my opponent, Hyuuga-chan?" Seiya asked, her feral look not shifting. She pressed the kunai a little closer into the Daimyo's throat, drawing a drop of blood. The man whimpered. "I've always wanted to see that bloodline limit of yours."

Hinata quivered inside, wishing someone had beaten her up to the rooftop to take on this woman. She didn't want to see the tertiary lotus. Steeling herself, the Hyuuga took up a battle stance. "You will have to free the Daimyo if you want to see it."

Seiya dropped the kunai, but kept her arm around the man's neck. "I don't think I will, but see if you can convince me of it."

Hinata's eyes widened. She was planning to fight while holding onto the Daimyo? She dropped her cloak to the ground. If that was how she wanted it, they had no choice but to obey. Taking up her stance again, she examined the Suna-nin's circulatory system. It was amazing, unlike anything she'd seen before. Chakra poured into her muscles, making her a glowing figure on a dark horizon.

Seiya didn't move an inch, waiting for the younger woman to attack. She looked almost bored. Hinata crouched and prepared to strike. She only needed to disable one shoulder, then Seiya would be at a great enough disadvantage to release the Daimyo. Sixteen strikes, which she could do in under four seconds.

Hinata lunged forward, her palms extended, ready to strike with the lightning fast eight trigrams. Her hands struck flesh and she struck again and again, too fast for even herself to see. But it didn't feel right. As she stepped back to examine the damage, she realised too late that none had been done. The bright red spots on Seiya's one free hands told her that every single blow had been blocked.

Suddely she was flying backwards, a horrible pain in her chest. Hinata hit the roof, the shatter of shingles filling the air. She skidded along the ground in the same manner that Temari had, only still conscious. Okama Seiya stood calmly in the exactly same position, relaxing after the single kick. Hinata spat the blood out of her mouth, trying to ignore the pain. She clambered to her feet, unsteady.

"One hand," Seiya said, displaying the injured extremity. "It's been a while since I've had to block a hit, well done."

Hinata gasped for air, breath coming with difficulty, she felt like half her ribs had been crushed. If sixteen strikes wouldn't do it then she would have to try thirty two. She couldn't delay, her body wouldn't hold up if she did. She hadn't felt this bad since Neji had tried to crush her heart in her first chuunin exams. She rushed forward, once again striking with all the speed she had in her, but still felt her strikes coming up empty.

The sky whirled around her as she felt another kick, this one had to have damaged her vital organs. Her back hit the roofing tiles again, another clatter ringing out through the air. Hinata stifled the scream that she felt building up inside her. She closed her eyes.

"Increase the number, the results will be the same," Seiya said with a toss of her hair. "You're just too naïve."

_I'm not going to run away anymore._

Without giving her opponent time for more snide remarks, Hinata leapt to her feet and flew forward, arms streaming out behind her. Sixty four strikes hit the brick wall of Seiya's defenses, Hinata didn't care, because this time when the kick came, it didn't hit her. Speed didn't matter, the lump of wood that replaced her was smashed into splinters in a blow that would surely have killed her. Seiya looked up, alarmed, but couldn't avoid the senbon that were already flying toward her.

The first struck her shoulder, the rest slamming harmlessly into the roof as Seiya's shadow clone disappeared in a puff of smoke. The Daimyo slumped to the ground.

--

Shikamaru watched the fight, Temari slumped against the wall beside him. Hinata was getting killed up there, but he knew better than to try to help her. If she was defeated he would let the ANBU deal with it. Tsunade would have his head if he interefered with ANBU business again.

He watched with a wince as the second kick hit, the girl knocked backward a second time, but his mind was elsewhere. What was Okama Seiya doing by holding the Daimyo hostage? She could have easily killed him by now, so this wasn't an assassination. She hadn't made any demands, and she would have to be mad to think she was going to walk away from this with every ANBU in the country and the Daimyo's personal guard watching her.

His mind slowly ticked over, trying to work out the puzzle. What was her motivation? He kept one eye on the fight, and was impressed by Hinata's use of the replacement jutsu. She'd grown a long way since they first met, he wouldn't have been surprised if she was named Hokage. Maybe if she'd stand up for herself a little more.

As the senbon hit and the shadow clone disappeared a chill crept up Shikamaru's spine. Okama Seiya wasn't there at all, she had no intention of killing the Daimyo. The puzzle pieces suddenly fell into place in his mind and he felt his stomach sink. What she accomplished by holding a hostage that she didn't want was drawing the attention of every ANBU in the country and the Daimyo's personal guard.

It was too late. He knew what he'd find when he got home.

--


	9. Day 8

**Day 8**

**Recovery and Discovery**

**--**

Tsunade rested her forehead on her fists, hunched over her desk. One month until the end of her tenure and it just kept getting worse and worse. The Daimyo was a patient and understanding man, who had taken his brief stint as a hostage in good nature. The councils, however, of both Konoha and Fire, were not so kind. She had spent a great deal of the day before fending off accusations of lax security.

Her will to continue until the end of the month was wavering. She had five competent shinobi who could handle this situation, between them they could handle anything. Unfortunately she couldn't choose all five. If there was only a candidate with Naruto's enthusiasm, Sakura's responsibility, Shikamaru's intelligence, Hinata's caution and Neji's authority. Then she could retire without any worries. As it was, none of them could take on the Hokage office in mid-crisis.

Tsunade had to admit that it was half curiosity that was keeping her on. The events of recent weeks were becoming more convoluted despite their continuing investigations, and a clear resolution seemed to get further and further out of reach. The link between the Uchiha clan and the attacks on Wind was too interesting to ignore, and more importantly she wanted to know how Okama Seiya even knew about the Fire Seal scrolls. The only people who knew about them were the respective Kages.

The Nara scroll was missing, the distraction of kidnapping the Daimyo had worked perfectly for them, and Tsunade was both impressed and a little nervous about an opponent who could maintain an independent shadow clone so effectively. She had deflected Hinata's sixty four strikes, protected almost all of her chakra circulatory system, and had done it without harming her human shield and with half her chakra on the other side of the village.

On Temari's advice Kakashi hadn't been at the Daimyo's arrival. He was still under suspicion, and it grated on her that there was good reason for it. The copy-nin was the one who investigated traitors. He was one of the few people in Konoha who she considered completely above suspicion, and the loss of that integrity made her administration feel unstable and introspective. Moreover, her instrumental part in the investigation made her feel as if she was dancing to Suna's tune. Tsunade was not someone who took orders well.

"Hokage-sama." The door opened, a masked face peering in. She beckoned Kakashi in, a sour taste in her mouth.

"Kakashi," she nodded to him.

"You asked to see me?" He was calm, giving away nothing. She hadn't expected nything else, but if he was hiding something she couldn't tell. After twenty-five years of faithful service, even if he was to betray the village it would be a difficult decision at least, she couldn't accept that he would do it in a calm and logical manner.

"There has been more news from Suna," she said evenly, reading the script that Suna had set for her. "The scroll that was stolen yesterday, its twin in Suna also had an attempt made on it."

If he knew anything about the scrolls he would know that there were more than two, and if he wasn't aware that the attempt had been unsuccessful he may have shown surprise. It was a stupid trap, and she would have been ashamed for him to fall for it.

Without flinching Kakashi smiled. "Since this is part of the investigation on me, do you have any questions for me regarding the incident?"

Tsunade smiled at him, glad that he hadn't disappointed her. "Since we're laying all our cards on the table, let me ask you this directly, Kakashi. Are you in any way involved with Okama Seiya or the theft of either sealing scroll?"

He looked her in the eye and smiled. "No, Hokage-sama."

"Then I have no further questions." She folded her hands, looking up at her most trusted jounin with affection. "You know that Konoha is in a delicate situation at the moment, which wasn't improved by the Daimyo being taken hostage. We now know how dangerous Okama Seiya is, I'm sure you're aware of our next step."

"ANBU have been informed of her change in status?" he asked, his one visible eyebrow raising.

"The official briefing went out this morning. Orders are now to engage on sight, her criminal status has been upgraded to hostile." She nodded, handing him a copy of the briefing. He looked it over, unphased by the document. Her Bingo Book entry had also been updated, and the reward for her capture raised. Soon they'd have bounty hunters on their side.

"You're offering a reward for the capture of her collaborators," he noted. "Has Temari-san confirmed the presence of co-conspirators?"

Tsunade's eyebrows raised at his choice of words. Conspiracy implied a large number of aggressors, it was an interesting assumption based on the situation. "No. However, due to classified intelligence we are certain that she has accomplices. It's a better use of resources to let bounty hunters discover their identities."

It wasn't really intelligence, but the ritual that involved the scrolls was impossible to perform alone. The idea that she was collecting the scrolls for a third party had crossed her mind, but even if there were no defectors from Konoha or Kiri, the ritual's requirement of a priest of Fire was what chilled her to the bone. "You're dismissed."

The contemplation of the idea turned her stomach. No one kidnapped a Daimyo if they were uncertain of their success. In the numbers of missing-nin were plenty of genjutsu and ninjutsu masters, so it wasn't impossible for the initial part of the ritual to be completed by the lone Suna defector without further losses from their ranks, but the priest needed for the task had to be someone currently in the service of the Fire Daimyo.

That was a betrayal that most shinobi couldn't imagine. That was corruption at the heart of their country and their faith.

Footsteps sounded behind her, but she didn't look up. Temari stood behind her, waiting patiently to be briefed. The taste of bile tainted her lips, this whole situation was sickening. If there was no progress soon, she was throwing the Suna-nin out of the village and to hell with the consequences. She'd deal with the missing objects herself.

"He knew I was there," Temari stated plainly, leaning against the desk.

"Of course he did!" Tsuande snapped, surprising herself with her own short temper. "This was pointless. Kakashi-san is trained to resist all forms of interrogation, he wasn't going to fall for a cheap trick."

"If you'd prefer that I skip directly to a more invasive investigation, I'd be pleased to do so." The note of challenge in the younger woman's voice made Tsunade glare. This idiot girl had no respect and no sense. If she had either she would have realised that the investigation of Kakashi was entirely on Konoha's grace. It was only Gaara's longtime support of their sister nation that allowed them to move so freely, and a smart shinobi wouldn't abuse it.

Then again, she wasn't the only kunoichi abusing their position. "What progress have you made on your other mission?"

Temari smirked, twirling a shougi piece between her fingers. "Sakura's progress with wind element has taken great strides thanks to Naruto's tutelage."

"What is your assessment?" Tsunde asked with a smile. Maybe there was hope for the girl yet.

Temari scoffed. "You could have the entire village in on this mission and still have no success. You don't need me, you need a miracle."

"You're underestimating her." The Hokage's good humour had returned with the reminder that she still had power over Temari. As grating as Suna's shinobi could be, they rarely intended disrespect, they were just obnoxious. "She's smarter than you think."

"Intelligence had nothing to do with it." Temari folded her arms, walking over to the window. "If it did, Shikamaru would be the one helping you."

At that the Godaime smiled broadly, stifling a chuckle. "I heard about his little challenge for you."

"I shouldn't have told Kankurou," she cursed. The blonde nin's discomfort was obvious. "Seiya-san's going to come out of hiding just to find out who won."

"I think it's good," Tsunade said, eliciting a surprised look from Temari. She shrugged her shoulders delicately. "He hasn't put his mind to anything since Megume-chan died. It's healthy for him to move on, and I see that you're not offended by the idea."

The younger kunoichi pulled her mask down over her face, but not before the Hokage caught a perfectly uncomfortable look. She knew that it was slightly juvenile, but there was nothing funnier than asking a Suna shinobi about their love life. No one would mock Shikamaru for his hesitance to engage in another romantic affair, but Temari was fair game. Also, the village needed a pleasant rumour going around for once, it distracted from the more dire whispers.

"I must speak with Hinata-chan. Excuse me, Hokage-sama." Temari bowed, waiting for the return gesture before vanishing.

--

Shikamaru stared into empty space. The empty space where his sealing scroll had been. He sat on the steps of his clan hall basement, smothered in shadows and smoke. He didn't know how long he had been there, just sitting, staring, as if wishing would make it rematerialise. Ino sat to one side, Chouji to the other. No one spoke. Their sensei's killer was unsealed. He had already, checked, the screaming could still be heard. Hidan was still alive, still trapped, if he had the ability to release his hold on life, he hadn't used it.

The unsettling reality had settled on all of them. Hidan was still alive. In the heat of the moment burying the problem for all eternity had seemed both wise and fitting. In the cold light of day it was nauseating and impractical. The three shinobi were listless, unsure of the way forward. With the sudden jolt of reality Asuma's death felt unavenged. Hidan hadn't gotten off lightly, or at all, but it wouldn't be finished until they could never think about him again.

"What now?" Ino asked, her voice hushed.

"Mmm," Chouji grunted. He had no food in his hands for the first time in years.

Shikamaru didn't move, eyes still fixed straight ahead. He treasured his friends, but knew that they would never be the ones to come up with a new plan.

_What would you have done, woman?_

_Dissected his brain until I found what made him tick._

"Immortality is impossible," he murmured. "Hidan was too dangerous to dissect when he was teamed up with Zabuza, but now even if he found a way to recompromise his body, the mental trauma of being trapped for so long..."

Shikamaru stopped, not wanting to go through any details. They didn't need to hear them anyway, they'd follow his suggestions without question. Hidan was out of action. Maybe he wouldn't always be without their intervention, but they at least had a window. He would be mentally debilitated from ten years of dismembered solitude, and without Zabuza's sewing technique and no immediate allies to figure anything else out for him, they had a window of opportunity.

Ino gazed at him curiously. "What are you suggesting?"

Shikamaru steeled himself. Temari had casually flicked it out there, the idea of cutting him to pieces. She probably would have done it with her bare hands right there given half a chance. The image of her hands tearing through soft membranes made his stomach turn. Easy for her to come up with the idea, but he didn't have the kind of intestinal fortitude that her village was known for.

"Dissect his brain," he muttered. "Find out what makes him tick."

The dust and dampness of the basement further muted the silence that followed. None of them were prone to queasiness, but the idea of digging up the still-living head of a madman to tear apart was enough to make even the strongest stomach turn. They sat in silence, contemplating the ramifications. Ino looked green in the low light, she began rocking slightly, as if she was trying to keep from throwing up. The sour look on Chouji's face wasn't much better.

"I..." Ino paused, closing her eyes and swallowing hard. "I'm not high enough clearance to do the dissection. Sakura or Tsunade-shishou would have to."

Shikamaru gave a dry chuckle. The only thing more nerve wracking then digging up Hidan would be to ask Tsunade for a favour at a time like this. "Hokage-sama isn't in the mood, and Sakura's busy with Naruto."

Ino shook her head with a narrowing of her eyes. "Then it will wait, I'm not doing this, Shikamaru. We've broken too many rules already, this needs to be left to the Hokage."

He scowled, looking to Chouji for a deciding vote, but his large friend was carefully examining the floor. It was true that the autopsy of an Akatsuki should be done by someone with the correct clearance, but the laws were now old, years out of date, and he was anxious to get the procedure over with.

"Ino," he said, a not of exasperation in his voice, "there's no point in waiting. We don't need the information anymore, the autopsy is only to kill him."

"Then you do it," she hissed, visibly upset with the idea.

Shikamaru groaned, wondering if he really should see if Temari wanted to take him apart. He shuddered at the thought, but she would have relished it. No, he wouldn't be asking her for any favours, either. If Ino wasn't willing to help then he'd have to call on Sakura.

"Okay," he said with a shake of his head. "I'll talk to Sakura tomorrow."


	10. Day 9

**Day 9**

**Delays**

**--**

"You're sure she said that?"

"Quite sure," Kakashi said with a weak smile. Seiya was pacing a trench into his floor, her slender fingers twitching erratically. He couldn't see her expression, but her eyes told of a scowl like thunder.

"An attempt?" she repeated for the tenth time. "An _attempt_ had been made on the Suna scroll?"

"Yes," he replied simply, not caring to elaborate yet again. He watched his subordinate walking up and down, surprised that she hadn't yet climbed any walls. The news from Tsunade's office had shaken her up. No one from Suna took failure with any grace, least of all Seiya. Kakashi shrugged. "She also said that there were only two scrolls, so the accuracy of this information can be called into question."

"She suspects," Seiya said with a shake of her head and a deep breath. Her whole body was filled with shakes, stress taking its toll. Uruhana extended a hand, touching her elbow to get her to stop moving, but she shook off the contact.

"Temari-san suspects," Kakashi amended. "We already knew that. I have the Hokage's full loyalty."

"Sure you do," Seiya huffed, finally planting herself on the couch next to Uruhana. Kakashi looked down at his disgruntled team, wondering why he was the target of aggression when it was Seiya who was fooled by the decoy. Uruhana was studiously staying out of the argument, as was Mei, but he knew that if sides were chosen this would get nasty.

Instead of replying he turned his attentions to Mei. "How was your journey here? I'm sorry for not greeting you earlier."

"Fine," she said with a serene expression. "I apologise for coming before you were prepared."

Kakashi inwardly winced at the barb directed straight at Seiya. It certainly hadn't taken the two of them long to get into it. There was no end to their ability to antagonise each other, even in the short spaces of time they had spent together over the years. The brunette stood, clicking her tongue, and retrieved the Suna scroll from the corner where it lay. She ran her eyes over it.

"It's perfect," she murmured, letting it roll open. The contents laid bare, she ran her fingers over it, tracing every line. Kakashi agreed, it wasn't just perfect at first glance, a detailed inspection revealed no flaws. Maybe Tsunade had been trying to fool him with her choice of wording. Seiya shook her head in disbelief. "It's flawless. It can't be a fake."

"It can be," Mei said sourly. "You've been outsmarted by your Godaime."

Seiya sat perfectly still, her eyes slowly rose to pierce the blonde. "Are you insinuating that I have not been competent in the execution of my duties?"

Mei shrugged, more than a little prim. "The only thing I'm insinuating is that three people in this room have managed to complete their tasks without drawing unnecessary attention, and one has failed to capture her objective and has a legendary hunter-nin on her tail."

"Is that so?" Seiya's eyes narrowed, just a little playful. "Well then I guess I'd better answer those accusations."

Before Kakashi could stop her, Seiya bit her thumb and slammed her hand down onto the scroll

--

The sun beat down on Konoha, the warmth of summer creeping up. Usually the fair skinned Hinata would have been fastidious about keeping out of the sun, fearing permanent damage from too many burns, but not today. Her head hung low, her eyes glazed. There were bags under her eyes from two sleepless nights. No matter how she tried, she couldn't get the image out of her mind.

Eight trigrams: 64 palms was untouchable. The victim couldn't even see the strikes, only felt them seconds afterward in a dazed flurry, and stood no chance of defense unless similarly equipped with byakugan. But her attack had been blocked. With one hand. The daimyo had walked away with only the single threatening scratch on his neck, but if Okama Seiya had any intention of killing him, Hinata wouldn't have had a chance at stopping her. She was supposed to be a Hokage candidate, she'd never liked the idea anyway, but it felt like having it rubbed in her face that she wasn't up to scratch. Beaten by the shadow clone of a kunoichi past her prime. Worse, everyone in the village had witnessed it.

That speed. It played again and again in her mind. Temari had predicted her path toward the Daimyo, had she seen the movement or simply anticipated the move? If byakugan couldn't see it, could the naked human eye? It made Hinata feel sluggish just thinking about it, like her every move was wading through mud. She could never mimick it, not if she had fifty years to train. But she didn't have that time, now that Seiya was classified as an agressor toward Konoha, she needed to be able to beat her as soon as they could engage.

Hinata slumped against a tree, finding herself nearing the training grounds. She didn't wear her mask or uniform, she considered this a personal day. Her heart was low, her stomach lower, and Hinata eased the pressure on her chest with a heavy sigh. Depressive states were something she had left in her teenage years, but the shock and humiliation of her defeat had her feeling blue.

"_Dynamic Entry!_" A green blur shot down from above her, flipping in the air and cracking the ground under it. Gai straightened and gave a dumbfounded Hinata a thumbs up with a winning smile.

"Gai-sensei," she gaped, still surprised. It didn't matter how many times he jumped out, there was never any preparing for it.

"Hinata-san," the aging sensei hauled her to her feet, "what has upset a young flower such as yourself?"

Hinata stumbled to her feet, her arm nearly yanked from her socket. There was no point lying to Gai, it only prolonged the interrogation. "Th-the fight for the Daimyo, Gai-san."

"Ah, yes," he mused. "I heard that it was a magnificent duel of two masters! Oh, to have been there!"

Hinata couldn't help but giggle. It was impossible to be depressed around Gai or Lee, they simply radiated enthusiasm and joy. "Then you should find new sources, the fight was completely one-sided. I failed the Daimyo and the village."

Gai stayed silent for a moment, before bursting into another grin. "Nonsense, Hinata-san! You struck Okama Seiya with senbon, not everyone can do that."

Something about his wording struck her. "You're familiar with her?"

"We trained under the same sensei," Gai replied with a proud pose. "Of course, Seiya was younger than me, but still a formidable opponent."

"You were her senpai?"

"Oh, yes! And what a promising young flower she was!" The look on his face was one of fondness and Hinata frowned.

"Aren't you concerned about her desertion?" she asked, not wanting to highlight a sore point, but unable to understand his constantly cheery demeanor. If his former junior student was behind all this, wasn't that at least a cause for grief?

Gai suddenly looked grave, in his exaggerated, almost comical style. "Seiya-chan was a very wise girl when she was only a chuunin, whatever reasoning she has behind this decision is sound, I am sure of that. But our sandy menace is not why I am here, what bothers you, Hinata-chan?"

Hinata stammered under his questioning look, trying to figure out how to tell him. Neji wouldn't approve, he didn't believe in asking for help. She shook herself, who cared what Neji thought? She had an invaluable resource staring her in the face, she had to use it. "Our battle, Gai-san, I'm expected to capture Okama-san, but I can't fight her, I can't even see her. She's just too fast for me."

"Ah-hah!" Gai cried, making her jump in surprise. "So the source of your anxiety becomes clear!"

"Yes, I just told-" she was cut off and hauled forward with a squeak.

"I accept the mission, Hinata-chan! Never fear, soon you will be as fast as lightning!"

Hinata could do nothing but gape at Gai. She was expecting him to be of some assistance, but she couldn't hold up to a short course in speed from him. Her body would give out if her mind didn't. "Gai-san, please, I have very limited time in which to best Okama-san, I couldn't possibly..."

He stopped short, standing across from her and assuming a taijutsu pose. Oh, no...

In a blur of green he was suddenly behind her, kunai to her throat. She hadn't even had a chance to react. It was the same speed that she couldn't defeat, couldn't defend against. Gai's solemn voice in her ear gave her comfort. "While there is no excuse for cheating, given your timeframe I think perhaps we could consider it a temporary fix until we can solve the larger problem."

He let her go and she stumbled forward, mentally preparing herself for another strike. It didn't come, and she looked at Gai hesitantly. "Th-there's a way to fix this quickly?"

"Do you perhaps remember the fight between my star pupil and the young Kazekage?"

"Gaara-sama was almost defeated."

"The Kazekage had not anticipated him, because his fighting style was so unusual. A taijutsu master defies all natural rules of combat. If his opponent had been anyone else, he would have won. Just as you have no ungodly powers to defeat Seiya-chan, and you will lose if not prepared."

"Gai-sensei..."

The older man darted forward, once again she lost sight of him, but this time she held an arm to her throat, and the kunai was deflected. Gai stepped back into her field of vision.

"Although you could not see me move, you anticipated my course of movement. Again!"

This time as he moved she knelt and kicked backward. She couldn't see, but she felt the impact on her leg and increased the pressure, swiping his legs out from under him. With a loud thump Gai landed on his back. He grinned up at her and she held out a hand to help him to his feet. "I'm sorry, Gai-san, I didn't mean..."

"Well done!" He sprung up, giving her a winning smile. "With the anticipation of my attack, you were able to negate it!"

"But how am I supposed to-" She was cut off again.

"I will teach you the secrets of this technique on one condition, Hinata-chan." Gai leaned in close, so that she could see every hair in his eyebrows. "Once you have defeated Okama Seiya, you will train with me until you can see me move instead of just predicting it."

Hinata's eyes widened. Training with Maito Gai? Rock Lee had worked himself until he bled for years to meet Gai's standards. Her own body couldn't withstand such a vigourous routine, she'd run herself into the ground. But then, she didn't seem to have a choice. Okama Seiya had to be stopped, and she had been assigned head of the case. The decision had already been made.

"Agreed," she confirmed with a resolute nod of her head. If the others could do it, so could she.

"Wonderful!" Gai beamed. "We will start immediately!"

--

Sakura let out a scream of frustration, hurling a pile of leaves at Naruto. He caught the foliage straight in his face, kocked on his back with surprise. She had been doing so well.

"What's wrong, Sakura-chan?" he asked, rubbing his forehead. She looked down at him and he saw murder in her eyes. Backing off quickly, he jumped to his feet, raising both hands in placation.

"I'll tell you what's wrong," she hissed, approaching him. "I have been trying to sever leaves with my chakra for two days now, and I have absolutely no evidence that it is _actually possible_!"

"Oh, did I forget to show you?"

Naruto gave her a grin and picked up one of the leaves she had hurled at him. He pressed it between his palms and then showed her the leaf, cut perfectly in half. Looking up, he expected to see a calmer Sakura, but if anything her face had grown even darker.

"Why didn't you show me that first?" Her voice was a deadly calm, her face a similar colour to her hair.

Naruto leapt back, his mind immediately filled with images of his untimely demise. But she was so pretty when she was angry. Temari had tried to drill teaching into him, but it was a concept that he couldn't quite grasp. He just wanted to help Sakura.

Sometimes she was just too hard on herself, it had taken him ages to cut the leaf, even with hundreds of shadow clones. A thought lit up in his head. _She_ didn't know that. He dodged another pile of leaves and grabbed onto her wrists. "Sakura, you're doing great. It took me ages even with shadow clones, and I'm wind-natured!"

Sakura's wrists slackened, her skin paling back to a healthy colour. It didn't look like her anger was completely gone, but that's what he liked about her. Sometimes she could be just as irrational as him. She hung onto the little things. He was too absentminded to even remember them, let alone hold a grudge. A little quirk of uncertainty graced her mouth. "I'm doing well?"

"Great!" he beamed at her. "I saw a little tear in one a while back, you're nearly there!"

Sakura nodded, her face set with determination, and picked up another leaf. Naruto watched her press the leaf between her palms, eyes closed. His attention was momentarily distracted by another chakra presence. He turned toward the forest to see a pair of blonde pigtails disappearing into the trees.


	11. Day 10

**Day 10**

**Accusations**

**--**

Temari looked up at the clouds, knowing that she wasn't the only one in Konoha doing so. They drifted by while she lay cradled in the branches of an outlying tree. She looked down at Konohagakure from the cliffs above the Hokage sculptures. This was the usual watchpoint for Hinata-chan and she'd hoped to catch up to her concerning the possible pursuit of Okama Seiya. There were watchpoints set up all around Konoha, none of which had spotted her former ally. Still, there was no doubt that she would soon be departing for Suna to correct her mistake.

Everything became more sour by the day. She hadn't known of the scroll's existence, while Gaara had taken measures to protect it years ago. The secrecy left a bitter taste in her mouth.

A chakra presence behind her made itself known, but she didn't move. She kept her gaze fixed on the clouds above her, watching the billowing monoliths pass by. Shikamaru was right, this was relaxing. She felt frustrated, at a dead end, but just lying back, staring at the sky, it didn't seem as bad as all that.

"Temari," the presence behind her spoke and she looked up.

"Shikamaru, what brings you here?"

"You were right about Hidan," he noted sourly, looking at his feet. "His tomb isn't safe anymore."

Ah, her three favourite words: _you were right._ She always had time for them, especially coming from him. The tomb had been a surprise to her, but the tenuous protection even more of a shock, she had expected Shikamaru to concoct an inescapable trap, not a hole in the ground. "Obviously. Have you taken my advice?"

He swung himself onto the branch next to her, sitting an appropriate distance away and meeting her gaze evenly with intense eyes. Temari felt a little twinge in her spine, like his stare had struck something inside her. She kept her face impassive.

"No one with the appropriate clearance is available. Tsunade-baachan is hip deep in problems and Sakura is too busy training." His lips barely moved as he spoke, she noticed, like he was too lazy to even move them properly. The sounds were just little quirks and pouts running across his mouth.

Temari's eyes snapped back to his, realising that she was staring at his lips. The notion was disconcerting. This stupid bet was messing with her mind, as was no doubt his intention. That was alright, because she knew that he wasn't impervious to mindgames, either. "Why don't you just do it by hand? Brain matter isn't very cohesive, once the membrane is pierced you could easily just strain the matter through your fingers and do an initial search for any abnormalities."

To her delight he turned a light shade of green as she spoke. Her choice of words was no doubt evoking numerous images in his mind, and she considered it only appropriate revenge for his own mental games. Shikamaru rocked back and forth gently, like he was trying to settle his stomach. "You're not serious."

"Maybe," she said with a shrug and a smirk. In truth she was completely serious, and would have offered to do it herself if it wasn't for the personal nature of the autopsy. It had kept her fascinated through the years to hear about the immortal Hidan, immortality was simply impossible. If it was possible then she doubted Orochimaru would have continued in his degenerating state, or Kakuzu collecting his hearts, or Sasori turning himself into wood and metal. Perfect immortality was simply unachievable, and when she thought about it she imagined finding a shimmering jewel among his brain matter, revealing his secrets. However, she had learned over the years that sharing such thoughts with Konoha-nin often led to revulsion and fear.

Temari glanced at Shikamaru, who still looked unwell. The poor man really thought that he wanted her. In reality, he just hadn't seen enough of her to be scared away yet. Maybe 39 days was enough for him to get a look at the real her and change his mind. She gave him a sly smile.

"I'm serious. I'll do it myself, if you like."

"No, thank you," he said forcefully, his skin turning a shade paler. "I'll wait for Sakura."

"Whatever suits you," she shrugged. Crybaby. How did people get to be jounin without the guts to fiddle around in someone's brain? Sure, it wasn't exactly on the exam, but she'd seen enough internal organs on the outside for them not to worry her anymore, and she was sure that he had, too. "So if you didn't come here to request an off-the-record dissection, why did you come here?"

"Why is it always about illegal surgery with you?" he asked mockingly. "We haven't seen each other in three years, and this is the closest thing you've had to a break since getting here."

Temari looked at him in surprise. This was new. The usual deal would be that one or the other would pretend there was work to do and then sort of segue into playing shougi or drinking. He never just walked up to her and said 'let's hang out', that wasn't how it worked. Much less when she was deliberately trying to gross him out.

"You're supposed to be in cryptology," she said, buying herself time to get her mind around the situation. She didn't even really know how to hold a social conversation, or 'catch up'. The only people that she shared her personal life with were her brothers, and even then to a bare minimum. Every now and then they would check on the three criteria (not dead, not dying, not planning to die) and then move on with their lives. Shikamaru usually understood that.

"Shiho's covering for me," he said.

"You're aware that the attacks you're investigating are on my homeland?" she asked. "I'd like them resolved."

"We're at a dead end, need more information," he replied. "Tell me what's been going on."

"I've been killing people, then disposing of the bodies in the correct manner."

Shikamaru scoffed, but smiled. "Troublesome woman. There must be something else going on in your life."

Temari considered his statement. She's already met the three criteria, what else did he want to know? Her family situation was, for the most part, classified. Her work as a hunter-nin was classified. He shouldn't even be calling her by her name or seeing her face, even that was classified. She felt completely put on the spot, Nara always knew how to make her feel out of her depth.

"Kankurou moved into puppet making," she blurted out, the thought suddenly popping into her mind. That had been going on. "He's very good, he made my new fans."

"I wondered why you switched," he intoned, looking a little proud of her for the statement.

"They were my birthday present two years ago," she continued with more confidence. She could get the hang of this. "He'd come across the idea while researching the fighting styles of the lost Whirlpool Village and decided to make me a pair. They're more effective in mid range combat and more practical to carry."

"Mm," he commented, looking thoughtful. She realised that she hadn't left much of an opening for him to say something back.

"What about you? Still using your fake tags?" Even Temari had to admit that trick was hilarious. "Or have you progressed to brute tackles?"

"I said I was sorry," he scoffed, looking away with a groan. "Naruto borrowed Asuma's knives, I still use them, but I use real tags now. I have a few more tricks up my sleeves, too."

That piqued her interest. Shikamaru's unique fighting style always fascinated her, kept her on her toes. She had thought that his shadows were pathetic at first glance, his tactics cheap tricks. That was simply a lack of appreciation. It was a pity they'd been banned from sparring, or she would have insisted on seeing these new tricks personally.

"Hopefully I can see your new moves on our mission."

Shikamaru rubbed his neck, looking downward. "It's troublesome, but I don't think I'm coming to Suna. Tsunade still has me trapped in cryptology."

"They stole from your property, she can't expect you to stay here."

"You would," he said with a raised eyebrow.

Temari felt something brush her hand and looked down. She wasn't sure who had inched across, but they were no longer sitting an appropriate distance apart. His fingers were almost wrapped around hers. She felt colour rising in her cheeks, both from his highlight of her bias and their uncomfrtable proximity.

"That's why I'm not Hokage," she said, trying to act nonchalant as she eased away from him a few inches. It wasn't casual enough for her to miss his smirk. The idea of him not coming to Suna sparked just a little irritation in her. Not at him. Not even at the Hokage. It just didn't seem fair. "I could arrange for Gaara to request you on this case."

"No," he said with a shake of his head and a glance cast over the village. "I'm working in cryptology."

Temari eyed him carefully, assessing his motivation. It wasn't like him to deliberately take on work, but then the alternative she had offered him was also work.

"Whatever." She stood up, noting with a smirk of satisfaction that his eyes followed her legs as she went. "I have to find Hinata-chan."

"Try ANBU headquarters, she spends most of her time there." He seemed unperturbed by her sudden departure, simply flicking her the day's shougi piece. She tucked it safely in her obi with the others and flitted away toward ANBU HQ.

--

Sakura furrowed her brow, concentrating everything she had into the palm of her hands. Her forehead protector had long since fallen from her hair, and she could smell nothing but sweat and cut leaves. The sun was sweltering, making things harder. She had trained hard before, but never with anything so mentally exhausting.

Anxiously she opened up her palm and stared down at the leaf, which was cut halfway through. No progress since the morning. She turned red eyes on Naruto, a frown etched onto her face. This was interminable, and it was wearing her down.

"You're doing great," he assured her. That had become his mantra since he had first stopped her assault with the phrase.

"Stop saying that," she breathed, too tired to yell like she wanted to. She leaned against the tree she had been pillaging, bone tiredness setting in. It was rapidly approaching the point where she gave up. Ten years as a medical ninja and she had done just fine without wind element, surely she could continue without it. It wasn't worth it if it took up half her life, she'd never had this much trouble mastering an element, aside from her first.

"I mean it," he affirmed seriously, making her look up into his eyes. He was so rarely serious, but when she saw the sparkle of pride in his crystal lue eyes, she knew that he meant it. "You're doing great."

"I'm not getting anywhere," she sighed, yanking another leaf off the tree.

"You are," Naruto insisted. "You've just got to..."

He struggled with words for a few seconds before apparently abandoning the idea and apprehensively approaching her. Sakura was too tired to resist as he wrapped his arms around her shoulders and enclosed her hands in his, the leaf folded between their palms. A blush coloured her cheeks as she realised how much the feeling of his broad shoulders supporting her eased the weariness in her body. She leaned back into his body involuntarily, her palms still pressed flat together.

"Just concentrate," he murmured in her ear. "A thin line."

Exhaustion overwhelmed her brain, no longer focussing on keeping her body upright. All that could pour out through her hands was that thought. A thin line. She forced the chakra out, the last remnants of her chakra swirling between her hands, encapsulated in his warmth. She let out a gasp of effort as she reached her breaking point. Naruto caught her and eased the pressure off her bones as she almost collapsed.

Sakura closed her eyes momentarily trying not to fall asleep, then opened them and weakly looked into her hands. The leaf lay flat, cut perfectly in two. The realisation shocked new energy into her body and she shot out of Naruto's arms like he burned.

"I did it," she said, an irrepressable grin spreading across her face. She caught Naruto's eye and he grinned with her. "I did it."

"I told you that you were doing great!" Naruto declared happily.

"I...I..." she sighed, energy sapped from her again, her body held upright by elation. "I can't do anymore today. Shishou needs me at the office."

"We'll do more tomorrow," Naruto confirmed.

Sakura started off toward the office, her feet practically flying with happiness. As she hit the edge of the training field she stopped, looking back toward Naruto.

"Naruto!" she called, waiting for him to turn and notice her. When he caught her eye she smiled despite herself. "Thank you."

--

A dove flying overhead made Tsunade groan internally, resting her chin on her fingers. Another foreign message. Any minute now a messenger would burst into her office with more bad news. She'd stopped hoping for good news some time ago.

"Bad day?" The voice behind her was smooth and calm, it always was. She looked over to the window, not even feigning surprise at his presence.

"They all are," she said tersely. Kakashi just smiled at her, leaning back casually against the balcony railing. The Hokage pushed a stack of papers aside, she had more important things to focus on than festival arrangements. "Do you have news on Okama, since the ANBU are just wasting my time?"

"She's still within the city limits, Hokage-sama," he replied gently. "She has not made any appearance since the attack on the Daimyo."

She rested back in her chair, closing her eyes. Dead ends and brick walls. If they didn't make some progress soon she was going to go mad. Temari had better be working until she bled on this case, Konoha needed it. If nothing else, she couldn't spare the jounins who were now acting as 24 hours protection for the Daimyo, which even she wouldn't have the gaul to call a paranoid overreaction. She needed Shizune here for this.

"What do you think?" she asked, opening her eyes. "Does she really intend to harm the Daimyo, or was the scroll her only target?"

"She could have easily killed the Daimyo if she'd wanted to," he said, finally coming to stand in front of her. "I doubt that she holds any further intention to make trouble for him, it would be bad strategy to put all of his guards on full alert if she was planning a real attack."

Tsunade nodded. The Daimyo was a reasonable man, wise beyond his years. Surely he'd be satisfied in a few days and return to trusting his personal guard with his safety. She couldn't blame him for his knee jerk reaction, it was a horrible shock for all of them.

"I agree, it isn't historically accurate for her. Neji's squad needs to be reassigned."

"I see he hasn't taken your orders concerning Hinata to heart."

Tsunade just rolled her eyes. She didn't usually take well to her orders being ignored, but considering their family situation she wasn't about to chase them down about it. If anything was going to get her into a diplomatic mess, it was bullying Hyuugas, and she didn't need it. Of course, the Hyuugas weren't the ones running Konoha.

"They'll take the orders differently if I have to send them to Suna. Gaara had better not think I'm letting the Okama case go when she leaves Konoha borders." She took a sip of the sake on her desk, deliberately ignoring the fact that she was breaking her rule. The liquid burned all the way down her throat, easing the nausea that was building in her gut.

"You're sending ANBU after her." It was a statement, not a question. He was eyeing her critically and Tsunade felt chakra building in her fist, sick of being questioned. As Hokage it was her right to make decisions.

"You're a suspect," she replied evenly, calming her temper. It wasn't exactly protocol to discuss battle tactics with lead suspects, regardless of their position. "That information is for the use of ANBU only."

Kakashi nodded respectfully, wandering back to the balcony. This time she joined him, leaning on the railing to look out over the village. The sun was high in the sky, offending her slightly distorted senses and illuminating every crevice of the town. An air of discomfort had settled over the citizens, the attack only inflaming an underlying problem.

"Things will settle down before the festival," Kakashi assured her, as if reading her mind. "It's everyone's favourite time of year."

"Nothing will settle down," she hissed, her poor mood seeping out through her voice. "Nothing will settle down until Okama Seiya is caught and gutted. No one is sleeping well, not just the shinobi, with the attacks on civillians in Wind, everyone is scared for their lives. This isn't going to go away."

"There's no evidence linking Okama Seiya to the attacks on Wind," the white haired shinobi said cautiously.

"Tell them that." Tsunade gestured broadly to the village with her sake before taking another swig. "There's too much going on. It's unease now, but one more push and it will turn into panic."

The sound of heavy footsteps above them made both shinobi pause. The thudding came closer and neither was surprised when the office door burst open. Sakura stopped dead when she saw Kakashi, her face a shocking shade of white. She was breathing hard from the short run, bordering on hyperventilation. Tsunade stepped forward, concern suddenly washing through her body. Something was horribly wrong.

"Tsunade-shishou..." There was a note of pleading in her voice, her whole body wracked with uncertainty and fear. Her eyes shot to Kakashi and back to the Hokage. Biting her lower lip she held out a sheet of paper. "We've received a reply from Mist. Their scroll is gone, and so is one of their shinobi."

Tsunade took the paper from her. She felt all the colour drain from her face as she looked at the brand new Bingo Book entry. Her stomach flipped, bile rising in her throat. The masked face of Ketsu Uruhana stared up at her, student of the Yondaime Mizukage, Jiraiya's nephew. She looked at Kakashi, her mouth suddenly dry, unable to force words from her throat.

Tsunade weakly turned the sheet around, revealing it to her most trusted confidante. She finally managed to speak, the words tasting like ash in her mouth.

"I can't ignore this."

"I won't ask you to, Tsunade-sama," Kakashi replied with a respectful bow, not a single sign of shock on his face. Then he was gone, instantly just a distant figure on the rooftops.

"Find him!" Tsunade roared, jerked out of her shock. She turned on Sakura. "Get ANBU and _find him!_"

--


	12. Day 11

**Day 11**

**Exeunt**

_--_

_Heading for Suna, follow when you can. I've taken today's piece. - T_

Shikamaru looked at the note for a long moment, trying not to think of how or why Temari would break into his house while he slept instead of just knocking. It was just like her to assume he'd follow when he'd told her that he couldn't, he didn't even know why'd she'd left, Okama Seiya must have been spotted on the move.

He tucked the note in his pocket, yawning loudly into his empty home. The sound echoed down the wooden corridor, undisturbed by any sounds from outside. Whether Temari liked it or not, he had bigger problems than their little bet. The screaming had started again during the night. He wasn't sure if anyone had heard it, but he could almost feel Hidan regaining awareness, realising that he was back in reality.

Today he would have to dig the bastard up and silence him once and for all.

But before he could do that it was a trip to the hospital to ask for Sakura's help, and he wasn't looking forward to his secret being out. He could trust Sakura to keep his confidence, but there was no way to carry a screaming disembodied head through the village without raising questions. She wasn't even guaranteed to agree to the autopsy.

The clatter of dishes as he made breakfast was hollow in his empty house. This was the kind of quiet he enjoyed most of the time, it gave him time and space to think without the interruptions of his parents or friends. Well, at least it used to. He wasn't really sure when that had changed. Sometime over the past five years he had just become so used to having people around that now the silence felt stifling. Now he seemed to think better when he was with friends.

He finished breakfast quickly and headed out into the village. Sakura would have been at the Hokage's building since before the sun was up, assuming that Naruto hadn't taken her for training. He doubted that the blond man was even out of bed yet.

The village was unusually silent. People walked down the streets with their heads bowed, unspeaking. Shikamaru started to feel uneasy. There had been an air of solemnity in the village ever since the attacks on Wind started, but this was different, something had happened. This must have been why Temari left.

He quickened his pace, he needed to find out what was going on.

Sakura's shock of bright pink hair was visible from a distance, she was sitting on the steps of the Hokage's office. Shikamaru could see even at that distance that she was slouched against the wall, staring at her feet. He moved quickly, approaching her.

"Sakura," he started, but said nothing, fully realising her state. Her eyes were red and puffy, her hands clasped between her knees and a look of disillusionment on her face. She turned her eyes to focus on him.

"Good morning, Shikamaru."

"What's happened?" he asked.

Sakura didn't answer for a moment, her eyes flicked back to the ground and then to him again.

"Kakashi-sensei..."

–

"You can't go after him," Tsunade said flatly.

Naruto was hunched over her desk, face red and fists clenched. She had ordered Sakura not to tell him until the morning, she had known this would happen.

"I have to, he's my sensei."

"ANBU has already been dispatched, Neji and Temari are on their trail."

"To kill them!" Naruto stormed. "Kakashi-sensei has to be brought back!"

Tsunade looked up at him through tired eyes. She'd had no sleep, hadn't stopped all night, trying to figure out how her most trusted shinobi could defect. Kakashi had shown no signs of betrayal in his entire history. His superior reports all backed him up, but it didn't matter what they said, she _knew_ Kakashi. This wasn't him.

The Hokage stood up. It had been easier to intimidate Naruto when he was shorter than her. Jiraiya would have known how to deal with him, but now it was on her.

"You know the rules."

Naruto stormed out of the room without another word, slamming the door behind him. Tsunade sunk back into her chair. The kid was as good as gone, she hoped he could track Neji and Temari effectively. Maybe Sakura would talk him out of it, she didn't really care. How this played out wasn't in her hands anymore.

If Kakashi wanted to be gone, then he wasn't coming back, she wasn't stupid enough to think anything else. If Temari or Neji engaged him, then someone would die. Fuck Kakashi for putting them in this situation, no one needed it, especially now.

"Sakura!" she called. "Sakura!"

It took longer than usual for the young nin to enter her office, still devastated at her sensei's betrayal. She looked like she hadn't slept either.

"Yes, shishou?"

"Make sure Naruto doesn't leave the village. The idiot is going to try to go after Kakashi."

"Yes, shishou," Sakura repeated. "Also Nara Shikamaru would like to see you."

"Send him in."

Sakura bowed politely, rubbing her eyes as she walked out the door. Tsunade had no time to feel sorry for her, she had too much to do. She pulled a bottle of sake from her bottom drawer. Shikamaru wouldn't care if she drank during their meeting, it would take too much energy.

Shikamaru walked in only seconds later, his usual look of boredom painted on his face.

"You better have some good news for me."

"Is it true?" he asked. "About Kakashi?"

"Yes, it's true," she growled. "Is that all?"

He sat down in the chair opposite her and started fidgeting. He had something to say that she wasn't going to like, she was used to that look by now. "I need an autopsy."

Tsunade stared at him for a long moment. "An autopsy."

"Yeah, a... diagnostic autopsy."

"A diagnostic autopsy." Tsunade couldn't believe her ears. "What in _hell_ are you talking about, Nara?"

"The scroll was stolen from my property, and now the seal is broken." He wouldn't meet her eyes as he spoke. "You never asked me what it was sealing, and now I have a problem. I either need that scroll back or I need an autopsy."

Tsunade closed her eyes. Hidan. He had actually kept the immortal alive on his property. She took a long swig of sake and pretended for a moment that this wasn't happening.

"How secure is he?"

"He's not going anywhere, but Temari suggested that we have a brief window before he regains mental capacity where he can be made more secure or eliminated."

"We have no time for this! Right now Sakura and Naruto are headed out of the village, I don't have time for the autopsy and we'll get the scroll back as soon as we can. I'm sorry, Shikamaru, but that's how it is." Tsunade picked up her pen and started looking at some of her paperwork, signalling the conversation over.

"Then I'll have to follow them."

She turned a murderous eye on him. "No. No more of my shinobi are going after him. You have letters to decode."

"Shiho is better than me at ancient language, and that's what these letters look like. I need to deal with Hidan, I owe it to Asuma-sensei." He looked into her eyes, deadly serious. "I'll either find Sakura and get her to do the autopsy, or find the scroll and reclaim it."

She leaned back in her chair, the energy sapped from her body. Four of her Hokage candidates wanted to leave the village and the fifth was in training, there was no way she could keep the village under control without them. Temari and Hinata were the hunter-nin assigned to this case, none of the others should have left, it was only Gai who convinced her to send someone in Hinata's place while he trained her.

She couldn't argue anymore. She was too tired.

"Go."

--

Naruto headed for the gates of the hidden village, determined to track down his sensei. Usually he would have found other people to help him, but this was different. Kakashi was going to answer to him on this and no one else. His whole life seemed to revolve around the things the older man had taught him, and he wasn't going to let that be undermined.

People watched him as he passed, keeping their distance. It only deepened his frown, it had been years since people avoided him so openly, he wasn't Hokage yet but he was still a hero in the village. Now his open anger had them at arm's length again. Kakashi couldn't reverse his years of work, he wouldn't let him

The village gates came into view and he prepared to spring into the trees, the fastest way to catch up with Neji.

"Naruto!"

Sakura's cracked voice stopped him, he turned around. She had told him about Kakashi that morning, and he'd been so angry that he hadn't really paid attention to her. Now he took in her appearance and his resolve faultered. She wore no makeup and her hair wasn't brushed, her eyes were red with deep hollows under them.

"Sakura-chan, go home and get some sleep," he said. He hadn't stopped to think that she'd take this as hard as he had.

She ignored him. "You can't go after Kakashi-sensei."

"I have to, I have to bring him back."

"He doesn't want to be brought back, if he did he would have stayed. Haven't you learned anything the past ten years? People who want to be here don't leave."

"This is different," Naruto argued.

"No, it's not, it's exactly the same and it will end the same." She reached out a hand and laid it on his chest, over his heart. "We've lost Sasuke, and now Kakashi-sensei. If you leave you might not come back either."

Naruto was struck speechless for a moment. Was Sakura saying that she didn't want to lose him? He would have killed to hear those words at any other time. Not now. "I have to go, even if I don't come back."

He turned to leave, but didn't make it more than a step. Sakura grabbed one of his hands.

"You're breaking your promise to me."

"What promise?"

She composed herself and looked up at him primly. "You promised to teach me how to use wind chakra."

"Sakura-chan, that can wait, I have to-"

"I thought you kept your promises, Naruto."

"I do, but-"

"If you really keep your promises, then you have to take me with you." She looked earnestly into his eyes and he knew she was pleading. He couldn't leave her behind this time.

They stared at each other for a moment in time and then he broke out in a broad grin. "Let's go! We'll find Kakashi-sensei together and show him your new wind jutsus."


	13. Day 12

**Day 12**

**The Gourd**

**--**

Temari and Kankurou walked silently side by side. Her sour look mirrored his, and neither of them was looking forward to the conversation they were about to have. Temari was angry, angry with her brother and angry with her father, both of them knew about this and neither one had warned anyone. They just kept a tactical obliteration in their care without once trying to use it or mentioning the possibility that it could be used against them.

The siblings had arrived in Suna early in the morning, making good time to get home, but Seiya was almost certainly here before them. And somehow this all seemed like Gaara's fault. If he had just told them, warned them, maybe this could have been averted. At least they would have known what they were dealing with.

She opened Gaara's door without knocking and the young Kazekage looked up from his stack of paperwork. He looked so small behind his giant desk, and so pale, Temari's frown softened a little.

"Temari, Kankurou."

"Where's the scroll, Gaara?" Temari asked softly.

Gaara frowned. "You don't need to know."

"Like hell we don't need to know," Kankurou said. "There have been three defections, the scroll in Konoha is gone, and we don't even know what they do when they're combined."

"You know she's coming back to get it," Temari added.

Gaara folded his arms, eyeing them critically. He showed no remorse for hiding this from them, but seemed to be considering their words.

"There's a reason you don't know any of this, it's dangerous. This is Kage and Daimyo clearance intelligence."

Temari glowered at her younger brother. They had shared everything since their father had died. Everything. They weren't a touchy-feely family but they knew each other's mission, responsibilities and risks every step of the way. It was like her father was sitting right in front of her, telling her that she didn't need to know how long her brothers might be gone on a mission, how many deaths might occur at her hands, why they were attacking allies. When he died things had changed, they were allowed to ask questions.

"Gaara, this secret is posing a danger to Suna. Soon Okama Seiya, Ketsu Uruhana and Hatake Kakashi are going to be _in_ our home looking for that thing, and we don't even know where to protect." She kept her anger under control. Whether he admitted it or not, Gaara looked to her for guidance.

The Kazekage looked troubled, he closed his eyes for a moment, a frown sinking across his lips. He turned conflicted eyes on her. "The more people who know about this, the greater the danger. I can't risk..."

"We don't need to know what it does with the other scrolls," Kankurou conceded. "Just tell us where they're going to attack."

Gaara nodded. He shrugged the giant gourd from his shoulder and held it out to show them. The sand inside uncorked it, moving on unseen winds and from it emerged the elusive scroll, held afloat by his jutsu.

Temari internally breathed a sigh of relief, there was no safer place in the world. Nara may have let his scroll get away, but no one would touch her brother's gourd, ever. It brought her a sense of peace.

"Thank you," she said. Kankurou nodded his agreement.

"I don't want you both shadowing me, to my knowledge Seiya-san does not know where the scroll is and you shouldn't give her any clues."

"I'll keep the perimeter of the building," Temari nodded.

"I'll get in touch with the village guard, give them a hand," Kankurou added.

Gaara nodded his assent and they turned to leave. Finally they could put a solid plan into action and have some chance of defending against Seiya.

"Temari." Gaara's voice stopped her and she turned back. "What's this I hear about a bet with Nara Shikamaru?"

Temari felt her face turn a bright shade of pink.

--

Kakashi watched Temari and Kankurou as they walked through the streets of Suna, heading into the Kazekage's building. He checked his watch. His team had beaten them here, but not by much. Not by enough. Neji wouldn't be far off.

The three jounin were hidden behind a rocky outcrop on the edges of the canyon that surrounded Suna. Uruhana watched the town through a pair of binoculars while Seiya practised her taijutsu against the empty air, obviously glad to be in the open desert after a week of being trapped in his apartment.

Kakashi was uneasy, his team didn't speak. He'd known this day was coming, but now he was officially a traitor to Konoha. They'd had to knock out two guards to get away cleanly, and he had never thought he would watch one of Konoha's men take a hit without defending him. This wasn't training anymore, their mission was started and the full reality of it was hitting hard.

"When do you plan to have Mei join us?" Okama asked between kicks.

"We'll delay it as long as possible, once she joins us the villages will upgrade the emergency scale, we'll have nowhere to hide."

"I can't believe I was fooled by that scroll."

"You were lucky," Kakashi said. "If you'd tried to seal Mei with the real one she really wouldn't have forgiven you."

"I should have known that Gaara-sama was smarter than to leave it in plain sight. She was right, it was a stupid mistake."

She kicked high, stretching in impossible ways. He sometimes forgot that she had trained with Gai, and while she was more bearable than him, her exuberance for taijutsu was no different. Neither was her skill. She had been beating herself up for the mistake since they had discovered the fraud and it was borderline scary. Mei hadn't made things any easier.

The gravity of their mission seemed completely lost on the rest of his team. They bickered like idiots at any given chance, Mei and Seiya breaking barbs in one another, Uruhana and Seiya one upping each other, all three of them questioning his every move. Their fate was bad enough without their childish attitudes.

He looked over at the brunette, still fixed on her training intently. She was furious with herself.

"You can't be mad at yourself forever. We're here because no one else could accomplish this mission. We never thought it would go smoothly."

"I'll make up for it here," Seiya said, more to herself than anyone else. "I'll get the scroll. We'll have to figure out where it is, we'll go in and -"

"Hah!" Uruhana interrupted her with his outburst, still fixed to his binoculars.

Seiya whirled around to face him. "What are you implying?"

"It's not that, take a look at this."

Kakashi accepted the binoculars and followed Uruhana's previous gaze. He smiled, watching Gaara show their target to his siblings before replacing it in his gourd. A mistake. He should have known better than to reveal the location in full view of spies. It made no difference to Kakashi, now they knew their goal.

"It's in the Kazekage's gourd," Kakashi informed Seiya.

Her face turned a strange shade of white.

"Seiya-san?" Uruhana asked. "What is it? We can just go and take it."

"No we can't," she hissed. "The Kazekage is not that weak, and I cannot allow an attack on Gaara-sama."

Kakashi leaned back against the rocks. Seiya had a point, Gaara was not weak. Even if all three of them faced him it would be very difficult and not all of them would survive. And that wasn't factoring in his bodyguards. Temari and Kankurou would protect him with their lives.

No, they couldn't confront him. The Sand would crush them. They had to separate the young Kazekage from his gourd, a monumental task at the best of times. Uruhana and Seiya were arguing, but he could barely hear them, trying to think, trying to run through the young man's day, anytime when his gourd would be out of his reach.

"It's impossible!" Seiya stormed. "Gaara-sama never lets his gourd out of his sight, not for a second. Not when he sleeps, not when he trains, not when he bathes, or travels, or attends meetings. It'd be like trying to steal his left foot!"

Kakashi smiled. The Kazekage's left foot. They had no choice, they'd long since passed the point of no return. If that's what they needed, that's what they'd have to get. And like separating him from his foot, it would be no mean feat.

"Enough fighting, you two," he said. The others instantly stilled. "Your energy could be better spent thinking of a way to get the scroll."

"I told you," Seiya growled, her voice deadly serious. "I will not allow an attack on Gaara-sama."

He looked into her eyes and saw nothing but cold resolve. She'd kill them before allowing them to attack the Kazekage. Kakashi nodded, he could respect that, and on their difficulty scale extra conditions only seemed like a drop in the ocean.

"Why does he keep the gourd on him?" Kakashi asked.

Seiya's disbelieving look spoke all her thoughts. "Without it he has no shield."

"That's not true. He has the ability to draw minerals from the earth around him, the Kazekage can find sand in water."

She paused, looking thoughtful. "That requires enormous chakra, the sand in his gourd is already instilled with the chakra it requires to move and protect, if he were ever incapacitated the gourd would protect him even if he couldn't draw sand from around him."

Kakashi smiled. "Then I think we have our solution."

--

The sun was slowly drifting downward in the sky, but seemed to be getting hotter. The light illuminated every brown leaf and blade of grass, making the landscape look dry and desolate, even though the forest was only just thinning out into open space. Even if Sakura hadn't known where they were, this sun gave away their location. They were heading for Suna.

Naruto was ahead, tracking, watching. Neji hadn't left any indication of his intended direction, so progress was slow, and while they had guessed Suna would be their destination, if Neji or Temari were pulled off course for any reason they would be lost without tracking.

They hadn't talked much, both lost in their own thoughts, both scouring their memories for any hint, any warning that might have led to them predicting this situation. Sakura had come up dry. Maybe Tsunade was right and she was jaded, but the shock had settled over her and she was functioning again, any anger or betrayal simmering down to a fast determination to find Kakashi and force him to explain himself.

Naruto wasn't taking it so well. The anger and confusion were written all over his face, a grimace carved into his lips through everything he did. It wasn't pretty on him, his face and body were usually lifted by his buoyant attitude, when it was taken away his golden glow faded into a pallid shadow.

"Naruto-kun," she called. "We should take a break, the desert will be too hot to cross during the day."

Naruto nodded, staying silent. He dropped his backpack against a tree and sagged to the ground, visibly drained of energy. "We'll rest."

Sakura dropped her pack next to his, biting her lip with worry. He wasn't this quiet, ever. Even in his sleep he had more to say than he had in the past day. Not that he hadn't talked in his sleep, the few rests they had were always punctuated by yells and bursts of chakra. At least he hadn't tried to rasengan her.

She sunk down next to him, letting their shoulders brush, hoping that her presence would be a comfort to him. They sat in silence, neither one making a move to set up camp or gather any food or water. The atmosphere was crushing. When they stopped moving the pressure was that much more intense. Every step forward was leading them to a conclusion they couldn't control and couldn't predict. Sakura didn't know if she wanted to hear what Kakashi had to say.

"Will you leave, one day?"

Her answer was instinctive. "No."

"There's nothing outside Konoha that you want?"

Outside Konoha. She hadn't thought about it. Was there? Her whole family was in the village. All of her friends who had fought with her so many times. Tsunade wouldn't be there much longer. Sasuke was outside Konoha, and a few years ago she might have wanted to join him. Now Kakashi was gone, too. She owed Naruto the most honest of answers.

"Nothing."

Her own answer surprised her. She knew that he wanted to hear that word, but it surprised her that it was true.

"What if I had to leave?"

Sakura squeezed her eyes shut, trying to will away the dullness in his voice. She needed him to be strong. His naïve exuberance was the backbone of their team, without it she wasn't sure she could hang onto everything they'd stood for over the years.

She let her hand drop and grasped his fingers in her own. He turned surprised eyes on her and she smiled. For a heartbeat his own dopey grin was back, but then it dropped into curiosity when he stared at their intertwined fingers.

"The Hokage can't leave."

Naruto broke into a genuine grin this time. Sakura couldn't help but smile with him, relief washing over her. She'd never seen him like this for any real period of time. Sometimes his enthusiasm was dented, but he sprung back so quickly. It used to infuriate her, but seeing it gone left a hole in her chest that she couldn't explain.

For just a moment she was lost in his smile, so glad to see it again that it made her heart miss a beat.

Sakura caught herself and jumped to her feet. She crossed her arms, holding her hands firmly against her body, that was too weird. She didn't even think of Naruto like that.

"You two!"

Sakura's kunai were in her hands instantly, ready to face an aggressor, but her shoulders relaxed when she saw Shikamaru speeding through the trees toward them. He dropped down in front of her and offered a relaxed wave.

"Shikamaru," Sakura greeted, bowing. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm on my way to Suna. It's a pain but I have to get my property back. You two aren't travelling very fast."

"We weren't sure that they were heading for Suna so we've had to track Neji."

"Shikamaru?" Naruto spoke up, looking at him quizzically. "Why is your backpack mumbling?"

Sakura blanched as she realised he was right. A garbled voice was coming from Shikamaru's backpack. He gave the pack a whack with his elbow and the noise gargled to a halt. "Maybe you can help me avoid all this trouble. Sakura, can you perform an autopsy for me?"

"A what?"

Shikamaru shrugged his pack off his shoulders and opened the top. Sakura's stomach heaved and she put a hand to her mouth, trying to keep from gagging. The smell of rotten flesh overwhelmed the area, forcing Naruto to stand up and back away. Shikamaru reached in and came out with a fistful of white hair, dragging a severed head out of the bag.

They stood in silence, the young man letting them both digest what had just happened. The man's head swung comically from his hair, his eyes dazed and mouth gagged. Hair scattered across the ground, falling in chunks off the sallow skin, flesh that looked like it could barely hold itself together.

"What the hell is that?" Sakura whispered, mouth still covered by her hand.

"Meet Hidan, Asuma's murderer."

Sakura's hands trembled as the man's eyes slowly came back into focus, staring directly at her. He started screaming again, his jaw working furiously at the cloth binding, struggling in vain. Her stomach turned again and she leaned against the nearest tree, her head spinning and her knees weak.

"Put him back," she begged.

Shikamaru stuffed the head unceremoniously back into the bag, sealing it tightly. "So can you do it for me? You're the only one apart from Tsunade with a high enough clearance."

She choked on horrified laughter. "You want me to autopsy a conscious person? I can't. I won't. I can't believe you would even ask me..."

"You want him to stay alive forever? Unable to move, flesh rotting off his bones, able to feel his limbs being crushed under boulders?" Shikamaru's tone was almost bored as he asked.

Sakura felt a flash of anger. "That's not my problem."

"You can't ask Sakura to do this." Naruto finally spoke up, stepping in front of her defensively. "Tsunade-baa-chan should do it."

"Fine, I'll get the scroll back and reseal him. Tsunade has already refused."

Shikamaru shrugged, flopping down onto the forest floor. Sakura took a deep breath, willing her brain to stop reeling. She had seen a lot of things in her years as a medical kunoichi, but nothing had brought her such revulsion.

It was medical ethics, she couldn't take apart a brain while its head still screamed. A disgusting realisation settled on her, she couldn't just let it keep screaming, either.

"In Suna there are sedatives. I'll do it in Suna."

Shikamaru nodded his thanks.


	14. Day 13

**Day 13**

**Sleep**

--

_She watches him across the board, disinterested. Her eyes are a pair of dark diamonds, hard, glistening, judging him. He makes the final move, checkmating her, and she shrugs._

"_Rematch sometime." It wasn't a question. _

_Ino would call her pretty, but he's not sure. Too skinny, too tall. But such deep eyes. She smiles, her smile is pretty, too. _

"_Next week."_

"_Sure. Same time."_

_She stands up and pushes long hair over her shoulder, making way for her tessen to be fitted to her back. The weapon seems strangely disproportionate, like her light frame shouldn't be able to support it. It's black, undecorated._

_He watches her when she strolls away. Hips swing gently, footfalls dainty, she fades into the crowd, just another kunoichi. He can't help but smile as he watches her leave._

_--_

Temari shut her bedroom door behind her, leaning against it for just a moment. A groan escaped her lips and a shuddering sigh from her lungs. The days weren't difficult, but they were exhausting. An attack was imminent, and every second that it didn't happen might mean they'd found a way past her baby brother's defences.

Standing in front of a building wasn't hard, fearing for her village was.

So by the time she had finally relinquished her watch her chest was aching and her stomach was turning. She needed a hot shower and a long, long night's rest. Not that she would sleep easily, she never did on high alert, drifting in and out of sleep restlessly, never fully rested. It was almost more tiring than having no sleep at all.

Temari untied her hair, letting it fall loosely around her face, running her fingers through it to help it fall more comfortably. Shower, bed, fantastic.

_Knock knock_.

She was too tired at this point to get even a little angry at the sound, instead her shoulders slumped in frustration and she sighed.

"Who is it?"

"It's me."

Shikamaru. He must have just arrived in town, since he wasn't there when she'd finished her shift. She opened the door a crack, looking up into his dark, tired eyes. He looked as exhausted as her.

"What is it?"

"I have something you might want to see."

She opened the door a little more. He held up his backpack and she heard a distinct murmuring sound coming from inside. Temari wrenched the door open, hauling him inside by the scruff of his shirt and slamming the door behind him. The sheer audacity of that man sometimes amazed her.

"You brought him _here_?"

"He was upsetting the deer," Shikamaru offered by way of explanation. He smacked the bag against his knee, quieting the murmuring.

Temari looked at him in disbelief. He was so tired, sweaty and dusty from the road, it was impossible to be angry with him. Even when she tried, the only responses she had to his actions were some fairly colourful curse words, nothing even bordering on intelligent.

"When I said I'd kill him for you I didn't mean 'dig him up and bring him to my bedroom'!"

He jut gave her a pitiful look. His broad shoulders were slumped and wisps of his hair fell around his face, threatening to break free of its tie completely. "Will you just tell me where I can put him so I can go and get some sleep?"

"Where you can..." She shook her head, trying to shake away the cloudiness that was overwhelming her mind. "Just... give me a sec."

Temari slumped onto her bed, not objecting when he sat down on the other side. She had only come in to sleep because she couldn't even carry out duties that had been ingrained into her for years, and trust Nara Shikamaru to choose this moment to throw her a curve ball. This seemed more like one of Kankurou's jokes than reality.

_Temari, what is the storage protocol for the living severed head of an enemy troop? Quick!_

The morgue? The hospital? No, this was classified. Should she inform Gaara? Hell no. She wasn't leaving her room, Shikamaru could go where he needed to. This wasn't in her training, this wasn't even her business. She realised that her tired mind had simply wandered off and she had been sitting in silence for several minutes, drawing blank after blank.

"You kept it." His equally dopey voice broke Temari out of her reverie. She followed his gaze and rested on the framed shougi piece on her shelf. The king from the first game she won.

"Yeah. I earned it."

She looked down in frustration at the backpack in her hands. There had to be a solution to this that didn't involve her trekking all over the city at this time of night. She knew her judgement was impaired. She knew that Gaara should know about it and they should follow proper procedure.

That didn't stop her from using the last of her energy to jump up, fling open her wardrobe doors, drop kick the pack as far back as she could, then close the doors again.

There, problem solved until morning.

She turned back to Shikamaru to see if he agreed with her solution, only to find him fast asleep on her bed. If her eyes weren't fluttering shut on their own she might have objected. Might have kicked his ass out and told him to find a guest room. But her limbs were heavy, her eyes wouldn't focus.

She lay down next to him, the bed more than big enough to accommodate them both, and finally, blissfully let her eyes close.

"Temari?" he mumbled.

"Mm?"

"You look pretty with your hair down."

She couldn't find the energy to be embarrassed or flattered as the blackness of sleep engulfed her.

--

They were coming. Gaara looked down at his paperwork, forcing himself to focus. Temari had retired for the night after 24 unbroken hours of guard duty, Kankurou taking up the night watch, and there were no signs of any missing nin in Suna. With Kakashi's abandonment of Konoha, it was certain that whatever their greater plan was, they were ready to put it into action, and they wouldn't wait on his convenience to attack him.

It would have been comforting, if naïve, to think that they wouldn't find the scroll. His mind replayed every time Seiya had touched his gourd, every time he had been to the hospital, every time since he had hidden the scroll that might have given her the slightest clue to its whereabouts. There was no way that she knew before she left Suna or she wouldn't have stolen the decoy, but now that she knew it was fake there would only be so much time before she guessed at its location. Maybe they would capture and torture him for its whereabouts. It didn't really matter how they found it, they would, eventually.

The sun had long since set, he knew that he should go to bed. He should have eaten hours ago but had no appetite. He needed to be at the top of his game to keep Suna and his family safe, but he couldn't bear to go home, his gourd now felt like a time bomb. If he brought it into his home there was always the chance that three missing nin would slip in during the night, not caring who they killed to get their prize.

Gaara looked up to the door at the sounds of a gentle knocking. He already knew from the knock who it was and set down his pen.

"Come in."

Matsuri pushed the door open with her hip, hands full with boxes of food. She smiled at him, her short, boyish hair bobbing around her pretty face.

"Gaara-kun, you haven't eaten dinner yet." Her voice was sweet with a light reprimand as she sat down in front of his desk.

"I'm not hungry."

"You have to eat, the days ahead may require you to be strong. The kitchen will be very upset if you refuse their food."

She wasn't bossing him around, he knew that. His wife was never bossy. It was up to her to make sure he ate and slept and didn't overwork himself, and she always seemed demure in her demands. So he accepted one of the boxes without further complaint, letting her take the other. Although her didn't feel hungry at first, as soon as the first bite hit his lips he was ravenous.

"Will you be coming home tonight?"

"I will be staying here until Okama Seiya is caught."

"I'll make sure your futon is brought up, please promise me you'll get some sleep."

He smiled. She didn't even ask why, she trusted him so completely. "I promise."

They ate in silence for several minutes, but he was anxious. Any moment could bring the attack they were waiting on, and now Matsuri was sitting right in front of him, licking rice off her chopsticks, taking care of him. It was so rare that he was targeted directly, he wasn't used to being separated from her, he couldn't help but steal these few precious moments.

"Matsuri-chan," he said. "Please don't be offended, but after this meal we cannot see each other for a while. We believe that soon Seiya-san will be targeting me directly, and I cannot risk your safety."

She nodded, biting her lower lip. "I take it that I won't be allowed to leave the manor, either."

"I'm sorry. This will be over soon."

Matsuri leaned over his desk and playfully stole a bite of his food. He smiled and snatched her hand when she tried for a second, bringing her fingers to his lips for a soft kiss. She smiled so sweetly at him that he wished he could just take her home and fall asleep beside her. Married men shouldn't be trapped away from their wives. None of the other shinobi were forbidden from seeing their families.

"It won't be like this forever," Gaara promised.

"I know," she said. She was putting on a strong face, but he knew that it hurt her as much as him. He kept her fingers between his own, caressing the knuckled with his lips, wanting to hold her like that all night.

Matsuri stood up, moving around the desk and bringing them close together. She pressed her lips to his palm, all dark eyes and soft lips. His brave, beautiful wife.

"I love you."

"I love you, too." She let him plant a kiss on her cheek before stealing the last bite of his food and packing the boxes up. "I'll ask Kankurou to escort me home. Please be home as soon as you can."

It was more difficult forcing himself to focus than before.

--

Tsunade looked over the five pictures again. Again. Move them, match them. From one angle they were each perfect, from another horribly flawed.

A new Hokage.

A zealot, a genius, a healer, a warrior and a hunter.

A moron, a slacker, a narrow mind, an iron fist and a mouse.

It was so late at night, and the days were creeping by her. 23 days to go before she announced the Rokudaime Hokage, and she had nothing. She had hoped that if she just looked at the pictures long enough the right decision would come to her.

Tsunade looked at TonTon. "Hweh."

Hweh indeed. She could almost see Jiraiya watching her over her desk, eyebrow raised, as if to say _why don't you choose my protege already?_

"He's not ready." Talking to an empty room. That's what she was reduced to. "Maybe if the village was more stable."

She must have had too much sake, because she could swear that she saw him, slouched on the sofa, smiling at her. Ready to offer her a bottle of sake and ask if she'd like to be a test subject for his 'research'. Like he used to. Like he had never run off and got himself killed.

"What am I supposed to do?"

He didn't answer, just smiled at her. He was never a good looking man, just powerful and, when he wanted to be, dignified. His bulky form was relaxed, gentle as he beckoned her over.

She didn't move, couldn't move. If she touched him, he'd disappear, and she couldn't let that happen just yet. Just for a moment she needed to feel a little less alone. She was even deprived of Sakura's company now, and it was likely that she wouldn't see the girl again before the festival. It was just her and an empty office now.

Tsunade watched Jiraiya, his teasing smile, his honest face, and for a moment she wanted him to be there so badly it hurt.

Without thinking about it she walked to the sofa, closing her eyes and lying down, pretending just for a little while that he was more than just a memory.


	15. Day 14

Day 14

A Twisted Token

--

The light was too bright. It shone white into Shikamaru's vision, blinding him through closed eyelids. He groaned. Not enough sleep. He still felt like she could sleep another ten hours. Maybe if he just kept his eyes closed no one would notice, Hidan wasn't going anywhere.

Ugh, Hidan. He needed to get up and deal with Hidan. With another groan he reached up to rub his eyes, only realising as he moved his hands that they were touching something. He opened one tired eye and jerked backwards. The other body in the bed reflexively jumped the opposite way.

The possibilities flashed before his eyes for a brief moment, and then the memories returned in a flash. He had fallen asleep in Temari's bed.

"You scared the hell out of me," he murmured groggily.

"You're the one in my bed."

Point. He groaned and rolled over. The muscles down the side of his back were aching like he hadn't moved an inch since he first fell asleep. The analogue clock on her nightstand showed the time at 9:54.

"That's not really the time, is it?" Temari asked.

"Yeah, where are you supposed to be? I thought we were waiting for Kakashi to make the first move."

"I'm on guard duty. Gaara needs to be protected."

"Gaara?" he raised an eyebrow. They should be protecting the scroll, that was priority. No way a hunter-nin took time out to guard a family member. So... Gaara was carrying the scroll? "The scroll is in his gourd?"

A shock passed over her face, but she smirked. "Smart ass."

He sat up, stretching and swinging his legs over the side of the bed. He had really been out like a light, every muscle in his body was stiff. He was sure that they'd arrived around 3am, which meant he'd crashed in Temari's room around 3.30. Not enough sleep, but he couldn't believe she'd let him sleep in the same room as her, she must have been tired as hell.

His eyes drifted to the framed king on her shelf again. He could see why she wanted the trophy, it had taken her years to win it, but he couldn't help but smile to know she had a reminder of him in her room. It didn't surprise him to see it there, but he was grateful to her. She'd disappeared so suddenly that he thought she might have been intent on forgetting all about him. There were other trinkets from family and friends covering the shelves. Nothing so mundane as framed pictures. A bottle of sand, he guess was from Gaara's gourd, and a toy puppet. The Yondaime Kazekage's hat, he wondered how she'd come to possess it. Decorative kunai, a short katana, all mementos that he couldn't relate to a time or place or person.

She'd lived so much of her life without him even knowing about it. He frowned. Was it normal to want to know what each item meant? Was it normal to watch her and wonder about the tiniest details of her day? Probably not.

It was easy to convince himself that this stupid bet meant nothing to him, that it was a game, another battle of wits. But when she rolled onto her back and yawned, looking up at him through half lidded eyes, he knew that he had been staring at her for a moment too long. His thoughts should be focussed entirely on Hidan, his biggest problem.

There was a warmth on his back and he sucked in a breath of air. Temari leant against him, back to back. "Six hours of sleep. It'll have to do. Aren't you more used to 12?"

He choked out a laugh, still recovering from the sudden invasion of his space.

"I'm used to being woken up when I don't want to be."

"Will Sakura perform the autopsy today?"

Sure, her thoughts were still all business. "I hope so. She's still a little freaked out."

Temari sighed and let her head loll back onto his shoulder, her hair tickling his neck and face. Shikamaru's thoughts ground to a halt as he inhaled the smell of her. He was becoming more awake every second, and more aware that he was alone in her room with her. He could just turn around an kiss her. She'd let him, if only because it would mean she'd win their bet.

"You okay, Nara?" she asked.

He realised that he'd stopped breathing. "Fine."

Shikamaru stood up, letting her fall ungracefully back onto the bed. He needed to get out and find Sakura, Temari needed to shower and change, and he needed to get away from her.

She opened the doors to her wardrobe and grimaced. The offending backpack was tossed against Shikamaru's chest, grumbling. "Get that thing out of my room, it's weirding me out."

Shikamaru smirked. "I thought you didn't mind gross stuff."

"It's not the fleshy part that's weird." She leaned theatrically close to the bag, ear first. The constant stream of half-awake gibberish filled the silent room. "Listen to that, it's like he's trying to tell us a secret message. What goes through a man's mind after ten years alone?"

"Nothing coherent, would be my bet. For now, anyway. Pretty soon human voices and familiar sounds will snap him out of it."

"That's even creepier." Temari shuddered. "Go find Sakura and put him down."

"Yeah, yeah." He slung the backpack over his shoulder and started for the door. "Thanks for letting me stay the night."

"Don't get too full of it, Nara, you were too heavy to carry to the guest rooms."

He paused at the door frame and reached into his pocket. Shikamaru tossed the three shougi pawns on her bed and grinned at her. "What kind of kunoichi can't hold the weight of a single man?"

She slammed the door in his face.

Shikamaru smiled to himself and headed for the guest quarters, sure that Sakura would already be up and tending to the day's affairs. The quicker Hidan's head was dissected, the quicker he could get back to Konoha. Or maybe just hang around, help out with the investigation. If they'd let him. His step slowed a little.

When Hidan died he was sure to be sent back to Konoha. That wasn't in his plans. It was true that cryptology probably needed him, but Shiho was as good as any to take his place. He wasn't ready to leave Suna just yet.

Who was he kidding? He'd find an excuse to stay. Every team had a place for a good strategist, even a hunter-nin squad. Still, he didn't quicken his pace. Couldn't hurt to play it safe.

"Just between you and me," he said to Hidan, "you've probably worked in my favour. Got me out of that god awful crypto building. Soon you'll be dead, then I just have to stop the attacks on Wind and I'll be free to help other people with their problems."

He watched the sun creep up over the valley surrounding Sunagakure. He had to give it to Gaara, his palace had a beautiful view. Even the sandy building looked pretty in the morning light, just like their inhabitants. He could see Temari watching the sunrise from this walkway.

"Not that you're being very useful. I'm breaking my back here trying to get her on my good side, and you're just grossing her out. I'm sure if your brain hadn't turned to mush you'd be on my side, here. I can see you having a thing for blondes, if you're even interested in sex or relationships."

He gave a garbled scream which Shikamaru chose to take for dissent. A guy who had a thing for pain probably couldn't ever see what he saw in Temari. Hidan would probably think she was magnificent at inflicting injury and death, which she was. If she could turn a forest into splinters, Shikamaru could only imagine what she'd do to a crowd of people that pissed her off. Of course, that wasn't her anymore, maybe when he'd first met her.

"You just don't get it, do you? It's not just about how she fights or... or..." He couldn't bring himself to say it even to a severed head. _How damn sexy she is_. "It's about who she is. Hell, you'd think I'd made that clear to her by now, walking across a damn desert to get close to her. She's sexy and smart, has that little smirk. That woman's going to be the death of me and I don't think I care."

_How lonely have you been lately that you're having to talk to a jabbering head?_ He asked himself. _Wouldn't Chouji be a better listener?_ Not really, he didn't get it. The only two people who ever got him were Asuma and his dad. Dad was preachy, and Asuma was gone. Since Hidan took him, he'd have to listen instead.

"She's Suna's damn princess, what am I even getting myself into? I'm pretty sure her brothers are going to injure me, together they could kill me if they wanted. If I ever took her away from here I'd have half the Suna population on my back. This is such a pain, there must be something wrong with me to go looking for this much trouble."

The guest quarters were in sight and Shikamaru stopped. He held Hidan's head in his hands and frowned.

"To tell the truth, I've always wanted her."

Now there's something he could never say to Chouji or Dad. A weight lifted off his chest, like that secret had been festering inside him, completely unspeakable until this moment in time. Hidan couldn't comprehend the words or their meaning, but still, another living being had heard him and that felt good. It was a horrible thing for a man in mourning to say, and the guilt burrowed away at him every day.

It hadn't been a long time since Megume died, not long enough, not long enough by half. Not long enough to say out loud that there was someone else, that there always had been. The feeling of relief turned into one of sickness and he grimaced.

He knocked on the first door and heard a groan from inside. The sound of soft footsteps up to the door and it opened. Sakura was looking refreshed and awake, defying all reason.

"Good morning, Shikamaru, did you sleep well?"

"Yeah," he grunted. "I brought Hidan."

Sakura pulled a face and opened the door for him. Naruto was vigorously rolling around the floor, apparently still asleep. Shikamaru had to dodge as he was nearly knocked over. Sakura led him to the desk that was already scattered with medical textbooks, diagrams of the brain featuring prominently. She sat down and brought a couple of books to the front.

"I've had some thoughts on the procedure. I'll need to do a preliminary exam and then we'll have to request and operating room from Gaara-sama to do the actual operation. Hand him over, please?"

Shikamaru handed her the pack and she tentatively opened the drawstring. With a look of utter disgust the carefully removed the head, after a false start where she accidentally picked him up by the eye sockets.

"Aaahh!" Hidan exclaimed. "Uuu..!"

"I'll do a chakra scan of the inner workings of his brain, then... then..." Her resolve seemed to be fading by the second and she was turning a strange shade of grey.

"Uuuuu!" The head insisted. "Uuuuchh..."

"Then I'll make incisions along the skull at these lines." She indicated in the textbook. "And then dissect the brain into these sections."

"You're the medic," Shikamaru said.

"Uuuuuchiiiiha," Hidan garbled.

Both nin froze. Did he just say...? Sakura picked up the head and looked at it in dazed horror.

"What did you just say?"

"Uchiha." Hidan's eyes snapped open, perfectly lucid, making the other two start.

"Itachi's dead," Shikamaru said quietly. Maybe he was flashing back to his Akatsuki days. "Akatsuki has dissolved."

"Attacks. Attacks on Wind."

Was that a question or a statement? Sakura answered. "Yes, someone's attacking Wind."

Shikamaru mentally cursed. They'd lost their window, he was returning to sanity. Or as sane as Hidan ever was. The sight was grotesque, his rotting, sagging features and unearthly pallor were only accentuated by the intelligent gleam in his eye and purposeful movement of his face.

"Akatsuki never dies. Only the members."

"What are you saying?" Sakura asked.

"Don't let him draw you in, Sakura," Shikamaru said. "He's playing for time, he knows he's about to die."

"If he has information about the attacks or any reformation of Akatsuki, we have to extract it. You know the rules."

"He has nothing! He's been underground for the past ten years, he doesn't know a damn thing except how to keep himself from being cut up into chunks."

Sakura scowled. "Akatsuki could have had a failsafe, members we didn't know about, sleeper cells, we need to know everything that he knows. You put me in charge of this procedure, now follow my orders!"

"Troublesome."

"I'll see Gaara for the necessary paperwork."

Hidan grinned.

--

Gaara watched the hawk fly into the city over the setting sun with interest. There wasn't much good news floating around, but no news was good news, and he'd had a pleasant run of no news for the past 48 hours. Two days seemed like a lifetime now, he was just trying to get through the month and every minute crawled.

Sure enough the moment the bird landed he had an ANBU blink into his office, handing him a scroll with a mayor's seal on it. He knew what the letter would be without having to open it, he'd been receiving them for months, and every one read the same.

_There has been an attack by an unknown force, unknown numbers, civilian casualties. Please send reinforcements._

As though every reinforcement he had wasn't already protecting a town, there were barely enough people around to keep Suna safe.

He covered his mouth to cough and then broke the seal.

Interesting. A little variation this time, maybe something he could actually work with. He wrote down five identical messages and handed them back to the ANBU, who flickered away as quickly as he had appeared.

Gaara sighed, bringing on another cough. The past two days had been the longest of his life. The constant state of unease was bad enough to slog through, dozens of requests, questions, ideas and worries flooded his office every day, from home and abroad, but usually he was allowed to go home to Matsuri. Kankurou's daily reports on her health and well being, as well as food that she sent from home every day, weren't good enough to stop him missing her.

Hopefully this last letter would be a step toward a solution and he could go home. He just had to wait for the other to arrive and they could get this mission underway.

Surprisingly it was Shikamaru that first walked through his door. Usually Temari or Kankurou would simply teleport straight to his office, but he put it down to them being busy. Gaara narrowed his eyes, examining the slouching man in front of him, who offered a half hearted wave.

"You."

"Yeah."

"And Temari."

"Yeah."

"Do we need to have words?"

"I think we see eye to eye."

"I'm glad we understand each other."

"Me, too."

"Just don't make me repeat myself."

Shikamaru gave him an understanding nod and they sat in uncomfortable silence until two figured blurred into the room. Moments later Sakura dragged Naruto in via the door and Gaara looked up at the whole assembly.

"Thank you for coming so quickly, we have an urgent matter to attend to, I'm sure this is of interest to all of you."

"Whatever you need, Gaara," Temari said.

"Okama Seiya and Ketsu Uruhana have been sighted. Two boss summons are following them, they've already caused property damage and several injuries have been caused in two towns so far. Considering their path, they should be heading for Yama, you can head them off there in eight hours if you leave immediately. I'll ask Temari, Kankurou and Shikamaru to go."

There was immediate uproar in the room, everyone shouting their protests over each other.

"We're not leaving you unprotected!"

"This is and obvious trap!"

"We're not staying here while Kakashi-sensei is out there!"

Gaara silenced them with one hand and continued. "Hatake Kakashi has not been sighted with them. However, the ferret Boss summon _is_ with them, so hopefully Temari will be able to talk him down. Shikamaru-san, if that fails, your strategic skills will be necessary. In the meantime, Kakashi-san will likely make an attack on Suna by himself, and I think we all agree that Naruto-san and Sakura-san are plenty of protection while you're away."

With a few mumbled there was a general agreement in the room. Temari and Kankurou nodded and flashed out of the room. After a moment Temari flashed back and hauled Shikamaru out through the doors.

Gaara smiled at the grumbling leaf-nin in front of him.

"I look forward to working with you."


	16. Day 15

**A/N:**Okay, this is a longie, so I won't keep you long, but I desperately need advice. Should I keep going with the T rating on this story or take it up to M and go the dark, gritty, possibly a little raunchy route? Any advice appreciated.

**Day 15**

**The Kazekage's Left Foot**

--

Temari shivered in the grey dawn. She drew her long cloak tighter around her, keeping out the biting cold. Hiding behind her ANBU mask, she watched the rising sun. Yama wasn't far off, and the sand dunes could hide even the enormous boss summons. If their interception route was correct, they could engage at any time. They had travelled the whole way accompanied by the gagged Hidan's muffled chatter, which was beginning to wear on her nerves.

Temari stopped, holding up her hand to indicate that her companions should stop as well. They'd been trekking through the sand for nearly eight hours on no sleep, and as hilarious as it was to watch Shikamaru walk in sand, it was taking its toll on her as well. Pain radiated from her knees, stabbing through her shins and thighs, forcing her to sit.

"Ane, how are your knees?" Kankurou asked.

"They'll be fine." She wished that there was a river or pool nearby, the bathtubs back at the palace would have done. Every way she stretched the muscles only made the pain intensify. Shikamaru was watching her, concern etched on his face. "Don't stare, crybaby."

"We should probably set up some kind of observation point, moving much further toward town will put us at a disadvantage," Kankurou said. He opened up the scroll on his back and began summoning. A grotesque shadow sprang from the paper, taking shape as one of Kankurou's latest creations. A teetering body, too tall to be human, with the spindly legs of a spider and no features on its face aside from dozens of faceted eyes facing all directions. Without a sound the puppet started climbing the highest sand dune.

Temari tried to stand and a sharp pain knocked her right leg out from under her. She hit the sand again, cursing loudly.

"Take this. You're going to the hospital when we get home." Kankurou fished around in his inner pocket and produced a small, dried herb. He tossed it to her and she caught it deftly, immediately putting it in her mouth and starting to chew.

Shikamaru's shrewd eyes followed the exchange, but he didn't comment. Temari smirked. Another thing about her culture and her life that he didn't like. The drug that dulled the pain and heightened the senses also slowed her down and made her mind drift. Illegal in Konoha. It was almost amusing watching him try to be okay with her lifestyle for the sake of his bet.

"What happened to your legs?" he asked.

_Temari dodged, the massive pole arm clipping off the ends of her hair. She flew backwards, trying to put some distance between herself and her unexpectedly quick opponent. Her mask was gone, her arm was bleeding, he wasn't backing off. His size and strength... he shouldn't have been this fast. It defied nature._

_His blow was unexpected. Pain. Searing pain that engulfed her, paralysed her. She couldn't move, couldn't scream, couldn't keep her grip on her fan, couldn't yell in frustration as it slipped from her grasp. The ground rushed up to meet her._

"Both my knees were broken on a mission a few months ago." She tried to brush it off, sound nonchalant. The stabbing in her legs had subsided to an almost pleasant throb. Shikamaru frowned deeply.

"How did you get away?"

_His blood sprayed, impossible in it volume, a red hurricane that surrounded her. Every muscle was stripped, arteries exposed and torn open, his blood was everywhere. It coated the grass, coated her, filled the air, flung in every direction by the cyclone she commanded._

_One arm supported her, sitting on one hip, her other hand wielded her second fan. A man so stupid as to think she was helpless didn't deserve to live. She watched grimly, red droplets cascading down her face and body, as he was torn to pieces._

Temari's voice stuck in her throat. She wanted to mock him, to tell him every gory detail. Tell him what it looked like to see a man flayed alive by the wind. An image flashed through her mind of the look of sheer disgust on his face when he heard those words.

"I killed him."

She stood up, the pain in her knees all but gone. They didn't have time for this. Tori Me stood unmoving at the highest peak, Kankurou ready to relay any information to them. She started stretching out her legs, willing her stiff muscles to relax. This stupid injury had cost her too much recovery time as it was, she had been out of action for nearly a month.

"If you'd just get the stupid surgery you wouldn't have to drug yourself up," Kankurou grumbled.

Temari shook her head. "You know the traction would take at least six months, I don't have the time."

She smiled, looking at the sand dunes. The colours seemed more vibrant, darker in the shadows and brighter in the light. That was no reason to smile, but the dopey smirk was determined to stay on her face. She leaned down and let the sand run between her fingers, breathing in the scent deeply. Traction aside, it wouldn't be as much fun to fight without this.

"Movement, approximately one kilometre west."

The three shinobi faced west and Kankurou started summoning again, the shadows of three more puppets springing from the ground. Shikamaru drew no weapons, and Temari left her fans on her back. Technically, the presence of the others made it illegal for her to draw. She'd have to wait to assess the situation.

"Seiya and Ketsu?" she asked.

Kankurou nodded. "Ferret and lizard summons, too. They don't look like bosses, but still big."

"Shikamaru, strategy."

He was silent for a moment, contemplating. "They probably have no intention of killing us. This is a stalling tactic. They don't know I'm here yet, so I'll hang back. Temari, approach and engage Ketsu, you'll need to deal with the summons. Kankurou, stick close to Seiya, she may attempt to use the town as a hostage to keep us here longer. First priority is retrieving the scrolls."

"I can't attack the ferrets," Temari said.

Shikamaru said nothing, but nodded. He looked at her expectantly, as if to say that his plan stood and why was she still hanging around here?

With a nod Temari sped into the desert, covering the ground between their enemies and herself in seconds. Kankurou didn't have her speed, but that was fine. She could already see the flash of brown curls and Seiya turned to face her, to intercept her. The sand shone in the sun and she almost didn't see the camouflaged lizard summon in time to break off her course.

Temari screeched to a halt in front of her two enemies. She heard the whir of Kankurou's puppets reinforcing her and made her stand.

Seiya grinned under her mask, her hair blowing wildly in the wind. The two summons stood either side of her, each at least 12 feet tall, Ketsu Uruhana leaning leaned casually against his lizard, thoroughly bored. It was just a pose, Temari reminded herself, designed to make them intimidating. The towering creatures at their bidding were just smoke and mirrors. The deep scars on both warriors were badges of honour, a tally of the thousand battles they had fought and lived through, but each signified a time their defences had been breached.

The finest from Suna and Kiri, it was true, but she had fought powerful shinobi before, she couldn't give in to intimidation. Moreover, two could play at that game.

Temari drew her fans from her back, allowing the weight to settle in each hand, not opening them. She saw the spark of challenge in Seiya's eyes.

"Do I need to open them?"

"Where is Hyuuga-chan?" Seiya asked. "I thought she was to be my opponent."

"After stealing from my brother, the Kazekage, surely you don't have a problem facing us, Seiya-san."

"You mistake me, Temari-sama." Seiya's voice had the lyrical lilt of a snake, a traitor. "Your family is very dear to me."

Temari felt the puppets that flanked her stir and jitter threateningly. "Then you won't mind returning the two scrolls you hold to us."

Seiya grinned, crouching on the ground. She met Temari's eye exactly. "You'll have to catch me first."

Then she was gone. Temari didn't flinch, hearing the tell-tale whir and clatter of Kankurou already on her tail. She let them go, Shikamaru had been right, she was heading straight for Yama. Her brother would have better luck ducking and weaving through the civilian area than she would.

Ketsu Uruhana looked up at her for the first time, as if just realising she was there. He pushed himself to his feet, a large scroll swinging enticingly from his back. He did look a lot like the late Jiraiya, down to his red haori and arrogant stance, arms crossed.

"Ketsu Uruhana," she greeted.

"Sabaku no Temari, right?" he asked. "I've heard a lot about you. The Scarecrow Assassin."

"I've been hearing a lot about you, lately."

"From what I hear, if you open those fans things are going to turn pretty bad for me."

"You heard right."

He laughed and raised his right hand. The lizard at his side hissed, revealing row upon row of glistening teeth. It lunged forward, forcing Temari to dodge to the side. She skidded in the sand, facing the giant beast.

It would be all too easy to simply flick her fans open and blow it away, but she couldn't, and she had the unfortunate feeling that her opponent knew it. She couldn't because there were three things in the area that she didn't want torn to shreds. The ferret, the scroll, and Shikamaru. She was going to have to be smart about this.

The lizard charged again and she leapt into the air. At her vantage point, she looked down at the formation. The ferret wasn't moving, it wouldn't, she knew, until she'd dispatched the lizard. If he was aiming to kill he would have them both on her. He'd probably have another three or four summons out, as well. Again, Shikamaru had accurately predicted that they were only buying time. Sometimes having the kid around was pretty useful.

Still, she knew that he wouldn't let that scroll go without a fight, that's when he'd escalate. It was okay, she had time to fight him. Now it was just a matter of getting rid of his summons and making sure he couldn't get anymore up. The lizard was no real problem.

She dodged again, letting the sandy beast glide past her. Too slow by a mile. She let one closed fan glide down its side, the razor sharp edge tearing up the scales as it went. The creature couldn't keep up with her, jaws snapping at empty air. Without opening her fans she could only do so much damage at once, but it was more than enough, this beast would never touch her.

Her twin tessens were beautiful in her eyes. Kankurou's perfect gift. He had worked on them for months, lovingly engraving every inch of the steel. Ka and Kaze. Kaze was white, with three purple suns, the younger sister of her old tessen, and Ka was pure white. Wind made fire stronger, and fire could turn wind lethal.

She let Kaze flick open an inch. That was all she needed. Her feet flew over the sand, she twisted in mid air, letting herself fly backward over the oblivious summon.

"Wind dance," she murmured. With a flick of her wrist, the sand underneath them began to move. It rose up, thrown into the air, dancing on the wind, circling, singing, a fraction of her power.

The lizard roared in confusion, trying to understand what was happening around it. It seemed to happen in slow motion, a vortex of sand rising of its own will, unseen forces toying with nature. Ka opened an inch.

"Fire ribbons."

The sand roared, intermingling with the lizard's scream. The wind picked up, twirling, solidifying, a thousand grains of sand dancing in the air, turning into perfect streams. The ribbons rose up into the air and then plunged.

A dozen ribbons of sand hit the summon at the same time, tearing through his iron scales. Scalding, piercing, forcing his body to comply with her will. It arched and screamed, drawn off the ground, forced into the dance.

The lizard gave a final shriek of defiance and burst into a cloud of smoke, retreating to fight another day. Temari gracefully landed, a fan to either side of her, facing Ketsu again. He stood away from his ferret, eyes narrowed, arms still crossed. Watching, assessing.

"You'll have to do better than that," she whispered, the sound blown away by the wind.

"Once inch," Ketsu said, looking at her fans. "Impressive."

Not even a fraction of her potential. Temari narrowed her eyes. He was just toying with her. There was no way that the best ninjutsu master from Kirigakure had such weak defences. He was playing with her, assessing her power. Start small, work his way up, his next test for her would be more difficult.

She turned her eyes to the impassive ferret at his side. Kiri, the boss's third son. He made no move to attack her. She could make no move to attack him. A single blow from either of them could forever shatter the bond between summon and master. It was a terrible thing to have him watch her slaughter the other summon, to know that if they reached an impasse she would have to do the same to him.

Ketsu raised his left hand.

Kiri stepped forward.

Temari held her ground, looking up at her long time companion.

"Kiri-san."

"Temari-sama." The ferret bowed low on his front paws.

"Will you fight me?"

"You are the last master on our scroll, your command is not worth the same as Ketsu-sama's."

"You know that this will break our bond."

Kiri looked conflicted. He glanced over his shoulder at Ketsu, who was watching carefully, but said nothing. Temari found herself growing to hate the look in his eye. Shrewd and careful, but nothing as sure as Shikamaru's thoughtful stare. There was no surety in it, it was all trial and error, he had no idea of the outcome of this battle.

"You are a valued master, Temari-sama," Kiri said with a bow. "You know our worth, you are kind to us."

"He's using you as muscle, your size and strength are your only worth to him." She saw the doubt in Kiri's eyes, she had to play on it. "You know that we are the same kind, Kiri. Your father defers to your judgement."

Kiri nodded and turned to Ketsu. "No summon may fight his own kind, Ketsu-sama. I relieve myself of duty."

With a final bow, the ferret vanished into smoke. Ketsu smirked. His test was over, and Temari brandished both of her fans, ready to take him on. He had made a very serious mistake in forcing her against her own summons.

"That was very foolish," she hissed.

His eyes narrowed in amusement. "Was it?"

"I would never have disrespected Kiri by fighting him with less than my full strength."

His booming laugh echoed around the desert. "Suna honour. Your morals are misguided, but Seiya would never forgive me if I said more than that. Why don't you tell your friend to come out, I have no patience for desert rats."

"Your patience isn't my concern," Temari sneered. She shrugged. "Shikamaru, was that according to plan?"

"Always is," he said, dawdling out from behind the nearest sand dune.

"Go find Kankurou, I'm nearly done here and we should be heading back to Suna. I'll have the scrolls soon."

"You're the boss," he said with a salute, then was gone.

She turned back to Ketsu, we was still standing, arms crossed, unmoving. He made no move to summon anything, no move to attack, draw weapons, anything. She narrowed her eyes suspiciously. When something seemed amiss, it usually was.

Ka and Kaze fell open another inch in preparation, the metal anxious in her hands to be dashed against the air. It had been too long since she saw any real action, too long since a challenge existed. This might actually be fun.

"Going to have the scroll soon, eh?" Ketsu asked. "You're mighty confident."

"I'm right."

"You should never underestimate your opponent. There's plenty that you don't know about me."

"Like what?" she asked.

"Like the fact that two summons isn't my limit."

The words didn't register in her brain quickly enough, or she might have moved. Might have searched. Might have seen it coming. The sand beneath her fell away, slipping and sliding over itself as though a great space had been created beneath it. Her chest was crushed, her arms pinned above her head.

Temari roared in frustration, trying to make sense of what was happening. Her mask obscured her vision, and the slick surface that surrounded her was uncommon. All she could feel was oozing, moist, smooth skin covering powerful muscles that threatened to crush her. Her body was squeezed, compressed, like someone trying to empty a tube of toothpaste. The tessens were forced from her hands. Her porcelain mask shattered under the pressure and all she saw was ridged brown.

Although she knew that her first reaction should have been fear or the creation of a strategy, she was suddenly overwhelmed by disgust, an involuntary sound of horror forced from her throat. An earthworm.

Oh, sweet Kami, she was being crushed by an earthworm.

With a garbled sound of absolute disgust, Temari managed to form seals above her head. She let a lightning jutsu fly, the barbs slicing through the flesh around her. A foul odour permeated the air as the worm's innards spilled, soaking her clothing, her skin and the sand around her. Her body felt the instant relief of freedom, the pressure removed and the creature disappeared into smoke.

Temari wavered on her feet, bile rising in her throat. She was covered in the foul slime and blood, unable to escape it, the drugs in her system enhancing the sensations. She fell forward on her hands and knees, vomiting violently. It was everywhere, there was nothing she could do.

She crawled forward, looking for clean sand, and let herself fall. The grains were scalding and harsh, but she rolled in it, begging the mucus on her body to dry, to fall away. She couldn't breathe, couldn't think. All that she could manage were muted cries of horror as she squirmed on the ground, finally collapsing from exhaustion, unable to fight any further. She looked up.

Ketsu was nowhere to be seen.

--

She stopped on the roof, then gone again, flitting across the street in a blur of motion too fast to follow. Kankurou's puppets gave chase, surrounding her, flying impossibly through the air.

The people on the streets below scattered, hiding indoors, running to find loved ones. Shikamaru watched from a distance. The back and forth was pointless, time wasting. Seiya had no intention of being caught.

Two puppets closed in on her and she took them both by the arm, swinging in a half circle and launching them through the air, the tinkle of shattered roof tiles filled their air on their landing. She was gone again, down into the streets, overturning food carts and knocking frightened civilians off their feet.

Shikamaru crouched, letting his hands form a circle. She was fast, too fast. So fast it made Temari and Hinata look sluggish by comparison. There was no way to catch her in a shadow jutsu, nor would Kankurou ever catch up to her.

An explosion of chakra made him scowl, Hidan broadcasted his presence to the entire town, the combined effect of the four shinobi causing the debris to start rising from the ground. Shikamaru elbowed his backpack, causing a stutter but no cessation in the chakra flow.

He stood up, trying to locate the puppeteer. On the tip of a pagoda he potted the dark figure, crouched like a bird of prey ready to strike, hands outstretched. Shikamaru leapt over the rooftops.

"Kankurou!" he called out, gaining the older man's attention. "Pull back your puppets."

The blast of roof tiles behind him let him roll out of the way just as Seiya tore through, followed by the ungodly rattle of her pursuers. He felt the strap of his backpack break, and saw the pack fall from the rooftop down into a trough below. He swore. At least no one was going around picking up lost packages right now.

"I can't!" Kankurou called back. "She'll start on the town!"

Shikamaru made the final leap to the roof of the building. "No she won't, just do it."

He watched as Seiya whirred through the streets, leaving debris in her wake. The pattern was erratic, unplanned. It was as natural as breathing to her, running, leaping, sailing and pivoting at a whim, completely random yet somehow harmonious.

Kankurou's legion of puppets slowly ascended the tower, each an horrific black cloaked figure straight out of nightmare. Dead eyes stared at him.

The puppeteer glanced sideways. "Now what?"

"Now we leave."

"Leave?"

"Don't argue with me, just walk away slowly. No one will get hurt."

Shikamaru jumped down from the pagoda, landing safely in the street, knowing the older man would follow. He kept a steady pace, heading for the edge of town. He could sense Kankurou's hesitancy, but they didn't stop. He watched the streets, looking for the trough that Hidan's head had fallen into, he could still feel the enormous chakra vibrating around him.

The sounds of building's shaking and more roofs and vendor's stalls being destroyed followed them as they walked, but they continued. The town had turned into a war zone, but it would be over soon. The one woman cyclone had a larger agenda than this little town.

As they neared the edge of the village, a figure appeared in their path. Seiya tossed her hair. "Leaving so soon?"

Shikamaru shrugged, "Suna's expecting us back and you don't seem to want to fight."

"You think that either of you can be my opponent? You think you're strong enough?"

Shikamaru kept walking. "Alright then, we'll be on our way."

"Oh, you might think your bluff is pretty clever, but I have something that I know you want." Seiya tapped the scroll that swung at her side. Shikamaru saw the leaf insignia etched on the outside and his eye twitched. Hidan's chakra signal echoed in his mind.

He looked past Seiya and saw the trough, just a little further and he could reach it.

He tried to keep his voice even. "Our mission is to make sure that Yama's citizens are safe, and you don't seem interested in causing them any harm."

"Tell me, what was Gaara-sama's condition when you left Suna?" The question wasn't mocking, it was laced with concern.

"Fine." Shikamaru wasn't concentrating, Hidan's chakra had faded, the trough was so close. He just needed to run past her and grab the head.

"Had he developed a cough?"

Both men froze. The wheels in Shikamaru's mind started spinning, Hidan forgotten. Of course they wouldn't attack Gaara directly. That would be suicide.

"Gaara..." Kankurou gasped, horrified.

Seiya flickered out of sight, and was beside Kankurou. She could have put a kunai through his heart, but she didn't, instead leaning close to him and murmuring in an almost motherly tone, "Go be with your brother."

Kankurou was already running, his puppets trailing behind him, not even sealed away. Shikamaru couldn't follow just yet. He ran to the trough, searching desperately for any sign of Hidan's chakra. He fished through the mucky water, up to his elbows, searching every inch, too long after he had been hit with the sinking realisation.

Gaara was in trouble.

And Hidan's head was gone.

--

Gaara sat at his desk, going over the day's paperwork, every word working his last nerve. Kankurou and Temari would be back soon, and still no sign of Kakashi. He covered his mouth, coughing. The cough had been getting worse, they were heading into winter, he could be getting a cold. He had been feeling increasingly unwell.

Sakura and Naruto had refused to leave the room, waiting for their sensei's attack. He couldn't really blame them for that, but he could definitely blame Naruto for the amount of noise he made while waiting. He had lapsed into sleep some time ago, but was hardly any quieter for it. Gaara had to duck more than one rasengan that day.

Sakura let out a yawn. Gaara looked up. "You should take some time to eat and rest, Sakura-san."

"No," she insisted sleepily. "I'm fine."

"You'll be no use to us if you-" His sentence was cut off by a cough, he held his chest as it painfully heaved.

Sakura was beside him. Wait, she was on the other side of the room, how had she..? She looked up at him through concerned green eyes, was she saying something? It all seemed a little hazy.

Gaara brought his hand to his mouth again, another painful cough, felt like it was stripping out the inside of his lungs. Sakura's hand was suddenly on his forehead. Was that blood on his hand?

"Sakura...?" he asked. She seemed to be scattered, over one side of the room, then the other, taking his temperature, his pulse, in two places at once. "What's going on?"

He was against his desk, coughing, blood dripping down his chin.

Then he was lying down, white cotton, red blood. There were other people. Still Sakura's concerned green eyes. Her mouth was moving, but he couldn't hear her. It came in bursts, noise, words, too loud, the light was too bright.

"The hospital, now!" she roared.

White scrubs, her hair tied back, even brighter lights. Hands raised, soothing water on his skin, his bare chest. Nurses, he recognised them, he had been there for their induction. Where was he?

"Water, I need water to draw the poison out!"

Sakura was scary, even to him, when she was operating. His brain seemed to come in and out of focus, but he knew they wouldn't have success, they couldn't, chakra would never touch his skin.

Her hands brought to his chest again, her face was red and sweating, sand filled the room, pushed her hands away. She was yelling, the nurses were scattering, her hands were pushed back again and again.

"Seal up the room, and get that gourd as far away as you can _right now_!"

The gourd, there was something about the gourd. Finally he felt healing hands touch his skin, and the pain overwhelmed him. It felt like his heart was being ripped out through his chest. He screamed, again and again until finally the blackness swallowed him whole.


	17. Day 16

**Day 16**

**Poison**

--

_She rests against her tessen, white skin on black hair on black steel. He lies beside her, staring up at the clouds, sneaking glances at her when he's sure she's not looking. Her hair blows in the wind, careless around her dignified face._

_Too much for him, he knows that, she's too much. Aggressive, demanding and callous. There's no arrogance in her eyes as he draws his fingers down her arm, feeling skin that's impossibly soft for her lifestyle. His hand meets metal and cloth, the Kiri forehead protector that hangs from her wrist, ties to her weapon, denotes her as a kunoichi._

_There's a sparkle in her eye when he sits up, but she doesn't speak. Doesn't mock him, doesn't push him away, doesn't demand that he try harder to win this prize. Dark eyes watch him, their faces dangerously close._

_Lips on lips, tongue on tongue, his hands weave through her hair, her arms hold him closer. It's chaste and over quickly, she adds no fire, doesn't try to turn it into something it's not. They stay close, bodies warm, sheltered from the world by her fan. She smiles and he returns it._

_Some women know how to let a moment go by without ruining it._

--

Gaara felt a wave of nausea pass through him, but didn't have the strength to gag. His mouth was dry and a metallic taste clung to his tongue. He tried to swallow, but found nothing, like his mouth had turned to sandpaper. He tried to raise a hand to block out the light, but his whole body felt heavy, weak. What had happened?

The memories slowly emerged in his mind. He was in hospital, he'd been poisoned. Poison of all things had nearly killed him. His legions of bodyguards could have done nothing to protect him, this shouldn't have happened. He couldn't even imagine how anyone had managed to slip it to him, all of his food had been handmade by Matsuri since he had been stuck in the Kazekage office, and delivered by Kankurou.

Matsuri. He almost smiled, his beautiful wife had brought him food that first night, from the kitchen. Someone had taken advantage of her kindness and naivety, she wouldn't risk hurting the chef's feelings for anything, but he wasn't mad, that's what he loved about her.

That food.

Gaara's heart stopped in his chest, watching in his memory as she cheekily stole a bite over the desk, then another. He struggled to sit up.

"Matsuri!" His voice was just a hoarse croak. "Matsuri."

Strong hands held him down, restrained him while he struggled for all his worth.

"Gaara, calm down, she's fine."

The voice cut through the fog in his mind. His brother. He fell back on the bed, eyes searching blearily. Kankurou's devilish face came into focus, a grin pasted on his face.

"Matsuri?"

"They went to get her as soon as you collapsed, Sakura finished the poison removal ages ago, she's still out."

Gaara found water pressed against his lips and drank gratefully. His nerves calmed a little, his wife was alright. Still his gut twisted, wanting to know more. He looked around the room, forcing his eyes to focus. White walls, white sheets, white light, definitely the hospital.

Temari sat against the wall, eyes unfocussed, her lips pressed into the tightest frown he'd ever seen on her face. She was pissed off. Kankurou's grin didn't budge an inch when he looked at their sister.

She seemed to come to her senses and stood up, her frown not shifting an inch. "Alright, Gaara?"

"I feel fine."

Temari nodded.

He didn't expect anything more, their family wasn't much for shows of affection or relief, and they'd obviously been sitting there a while. The tiniest flicker in her frown told him everything he needed to know, she was glad he was alive, she had been scared for him.

"I'm going to go take a shower."

"Haven't you showered since you got back?" Gaara asked. She looked clean.

"Not enough," Temari replied darkly, already out the door. Her muttering followed her down the hallway. "Gonna find Ketsu and turn his _skull _into a _hat_..."

Gaara shot his brother a questioning look. "What's that about?"

"I'll tell you later, funny story. You sure you're feeling alright?"

"I am fine," Gaara insisted. "I want to see Matsuri."

"She's fine, Gaara," Kankurou said. "Give the girl some time to wake up."

Gaara frowned. He wanted to see his wife, but even the simplest movement of his arms sent waves of dizziness and nausea coursing through him. He was in no condition to fight with either Kankurou or the more formidable Sakura over this. He wasn't used to this, he was the Kazekage, people took orders from him, not the other way around.

"You know she's fragile..."

"I'll go get Sakura if you won't listen to me. Nobody here wants that."

Despite Kankurou's mocking threat, the door burst open, a shock of pink hair carried in on a wave of authority. She didn't greet him, instead choosing to pinch his eyelids and shine a bright light in his face. Gaara batted at her hands childishly.

"Good," Sakura said. "Seems you're recovery is going well. Kankurou, out."

"Yes'm." He gave a sarcastic salute and pushed through the doors, leaving Gaara alone against the terrifying mednin. He attempted his most intimidating stare, which Sakura summarily ignored.

"You'll be weak for at least another 24 hours, but the poison has evacuated your system. I'm keeping you in overnight for observation. Your vital organs aren't showing any signs of permanent damage, but that doesn't mean you're in the clear yet."

"Matsuri..." Gaara practically pleaded, feeling like he'd said her name a dozen times since he had woken up, each time yielding fewer results than the last.

"Just woke up, she received a much lower dose of poison, and will recover much quicker than you will. Your wife is fine."

"Is she... Is..." He couldn't finish the question, unsure if the mednin had any idea of the state secret his wife was carrying around. Sakura smiled broadly.

She leaned close to him and whispered conspiratorially. "The baby is fine. Congratulations, Gaara."

He squeezed her hand gratefully, finally relaxing back into his bed. For just a moment he thought he'd lost his little family, and that thought was far scarier than anything that could happen to him. His wife was alright, his baby was alright.

"Can I see her?"

Sakura frowned, studying her clipboard. "If I let you, will you do anything stupid and overexert yourself?"

Gaara shook his head, once again feeling like a little boy being told off by his attendant. "I won't, I promise."

"Since she's doing so well I'll have her bed brought in here for ten minutes. Ten minutes only."

Gaara sank into his bed, letting his eyes close, relief washing over him, muscles that he hadn't even realised were tense unwound and all the air expelled itself from his lungs. Sakura was getting a state award for this. He didn't know if there was one suitable, he'd make one up if he had to.

It seemed like an eternity before the doors swung open, two nurses wheeling in a bed identical to his own. His whole body cried out at the sight of his wife, pale and weak, but alive and smiling at him. She was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen at that moment. She held out a hand to him as the nurses rolled her bed beside his.

Gaara was completely lost in his wife's eyes, just staring at her, gut wrenching at the thought he could have lost her. Could have lost her to terrorists, to traitors. Nothing was worth this.

"Out," he ordered the nurses, not taking his eyes of Matsuri, and heard them hurry to comply.

The moment the doors swung shut behind them he felt all his strength return and gathered her into his arms, pulling her onto the bed with him. He buried his face in her hair, holding her against him as tightly as he dared.

"I'm so sorry, Gaara," Matsuri sniffled into his neck.

"It's not your fault," he murmured. "Everything is okay, you're alive, our baby's alive."

Matsuri looked up at him through bleary eyes, her face riddled with guilt, then threw herself back into his arms. Gaara crushed her against his chest.

His wife didn't deserve this, not the attempt on her life, or his life, not that guilt she would carry with it. It wasn't her fault, was anyone's fault. Except for one person, and while he'd been hesitant before, every fibre of his being was now humming with resolve.

He would live to see Okama Seiya dead.

--

Sakura leaned against the wall in the hallway, watching the nurses scurry out of Gaara's room like the floor inside burned their feet. She sighed, wiping the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand. She hadn't slept in 36 hours and couldn't for at least another ten minutes. No doubt she'd have to pry the Kazekage away from his wife with a crowbar.

She smiled weakly. It was good to see those two so in love. With Gaara it was sometimes hard to tell how he felt about people, but she'd been to Suna a lot over the past few years, overseeing the medical branch of their academy, and she'd grown to recognise the signs. The way their hands touched when they walked, how his eyes lingered on her whenever she was in the room, how his day could never seem to go unbroken by a private meeting with his wife, hushed voices and muted laughter coming from behind the closed door. It was so much more profound than Naruto singing his affections for her at the top of his lungs to whoever would listen.

Watching her friends relationships fall apart one by one, it was good to know that at least one couple in the world could make it work.

"Sakura-san!" Naruto bounded down the hallway, the old light returned to his face. "Gaara's awake!"

Sakura grabbed Naruto's wrist in a death grip, only just preventing him for barging through the door to the Kazekage's room. He let out a yelp and nearly tumbled head over heels from the sudden stop.

"Matsuri's in there, give them a moment."

"Oh, okay." Naruto grinned, all overflowing energy. It was easy for him, he'd been sleeping all morning. She'd been extracting poison first from Gaara, a process taking almost eight hours, then a four hour extraction on Matsuri, requiring enormous concentration to avoid the foetus while she flushed the girl's blood with water. "You look tired."

Sakura's eyes snapped open. "Yes. I'm tired."

"Oh!" Naruto held up a box as if he just remembered he was holding it. "I brought you food."

Sakura's mouth fell open, saliva flooding around her tongue. _Food_. She snatched the package out of his hands, she had been so tired that her body had completely pushed the sensation of hunger away. The box tore open and she stuffed one sashimi role into her mouth, swallowing it whole.

Naruto thumped her on the back when she nearly choked. She shot him an appreciative look while taking a barely more conservative bite of a second roll. Strength flooded back into her body as she ate, giving her a second wind.

"You're amazing sometimes," she mumbled through a mouthful of food, earning another energetic grin. Oh, this tasted so good, like she hadn't eaten in a week.

"When was the last time you ate?"

Sakura shrugged, not caring how incredibly grubby she looked shovelling food into her mouth with her hands. Soon the box was empty and she leaned back on the wall, unbelievably grateful to Naruto.

"Thank you."

"You look pretty with your hair up, you should wear it that way more often."

A bubble of laughter escaped her mouth and she grinned. She had been operating for half a day, her hair was dishevelled, she was covered in sweat, probably splashed of poison and medicine, she had pit stains, and he was calling her pretty. Only Naruto could get a laugh out of her right then.

"You're an idiot, Naruto."

"That's not nice, Sakura-chan, I mean it."

He did, that's what was so sweet. Sakura leaned sidewards, nudging his shoulder gently and watching his face light up. He looked almost angelic under the white lights of the hospital, it made his golden hair and skin glow.

She let him put an arm around her shoulder, supporting a bit of her weight. His warmth felt good, it could easily lull her to sleep in her current state. She felt his fingertips gently brush the skin of her shoulder. There was nothing sexual about it, it was just... intimate, familiar.

A flash of Gaara letting his fingers brush against Matsuri's ran through Sakura's mind. It jolted her out of the trance and she pushed off the wall, suddenly feeling very uncomfortable.

"I should... I need to get Matsuri. You can go see Gaara when she's gone."

She felt ashamed of running, but still hid her face as she headed for the Kazekage's room as quickly as her feet would carry her.

--

Shikamaru worked his way through the maze of the palace, it was easy enough, he had been to the records department many times. He wasn't angry, but determined. He was being lied to, and it didn't suit him to be treated like an idiot. Kankurou had so casually handed off those drugs to Temari, and she had so naturally scoffed them down, making no effort to fulfil her promise to get treatment upon their return.

The clerk looked up at him as he approached.

He held up his official tag. "I'm from the Hokage's office, I need to access your hunter-nin records."

"Mm-hmm," the man replied tiredly. "Any particular target, or..?"

"One hunter-nin, actually. I want all the records on Sabaku no Temari."


	18. Day 17

**Day 17**

**Dance**

--

The water ran over Temari's body, scalding her. She lathered soap between her hands, covering herself in pure white bubbles, scrubbing every inch of herself. The soap worked its way into every crevice and she continued scrubbing, ignoring the slimy feeling of her skin so obsessively covered.

She stood under the stream, letting the bubbles cascade down her, slipping away into the drain. Her skin was blissfully raw, rough, calloused. The stream washed away every hint of slime or dirt, any trace of a smell aside from the lemon scented soap. She scowled, turning off the shower and stepping out. It had taken her less than two days to get these disinfecting showers down to an art, executing a full clean in under three minutes with military precision.

Temari was not prissy. She'd been covered in a lot of truly horrendous gunk over the years, none of which she particularly enjoyed, but she'd also never felt this _unclean_ before. Ketsu had made this personal. Of course Kankurou thought it was the funniest thing he'd ever seen. Shikamaru had been smart enough to keep his mouth shut when they'd come back to find her still sprawled in the sand, rubbing it everywhere she could reach like it could cure cancer. The smell just wouldn't come out of her hair.

She heard a knock on her door and dressed quickly, missing her ANBU mask. Hopefully she wasn't being called out on a mission, she needed to have a new mask painted for her. The knock came again, patiently.

Temari opened her door and cocked her head. Shikamaru stood in front of her, a dark look on his face and his arms full of files.

"Crybaby, what's up?"

"You've lost your mind."

She raised an eyebrow and stepped out of the doorway, letting him pass. He dropped the files on her bed and she examined them more closely. These were her mission reports for the last three years. What was he up to, now?

"Have you been abusing your ambassador ID again?"

"What are you thinking?" Shikamaru asked, voice low. She examined him, he was serious, and he was angry. She flicked through the files, looking for the source of his distress.

"This is my job, what are you talking about? You know I'm a hunter-nin."

He picked up one of the summary files, opened it and read aloud. "Broken femur, healed at Suna Military Hospital, three weeks recovery time recommended, not taken. Skull fracture, healed at Suna Military Hospital, two weeks recovery time recommended, not taken. _Severed spinal cord_, reattached successfully at Daimyo's Royal Hospital, six weeks additional therapy recommended, not taken."

Temari stood up, scowling. "How is any of this your-"

"Eight broken ribs, uncountable lacerations, broken hands, broken feet, punctured vital organs..." He slammed the file down on the bed, making her jump. "What in _hell_ are you thinking? It's not just your knees, your last recovery day was when we last saw each other!"

Temari crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow, giving him her best look of utter disdain. If she expected him to baulk under her stare, she was disappointed. He met her eyes, defiant.

"What would you like me to say? Do you think I haven't had this conversation with Gaara?"

The nerve of him, rifling through her records, coming into her room to question her about this. Little twerp.

"How dependant are you on the drugs?"

"For the love of..." Temari wrenched open the files, flicking to the medical reports. "Will you look at these? These are called doctor's signatures, releasing me from hospital and giving me the okay to go back into the field, I'm not allowed any missions without them. Look at this! This is the knee injury you're making such a big fuss over, you see that, right there? Look at it. _Doctor in charge: Haruno Sakura_. Do you really think my life is so pathetic that I don't have family and friends looking out for me?"

The look in his eyes stopped the anger in its tracks, her thoughts ground to a halt. His eyes were lit with fire, anger, passion. His hair hung in strands around his face, his skin tinged with pink, full lips pulled into a grimace. She felt the breath leave her in a rush of hot air on suddenly sensitive lips. He was a very beautiful man, so much more when his face was darkened with purpose.

Shikamaru leaned close to her, invading her personal space, her body was so aware of his proximity, she clenched her fists to keep her fingers from trembling. Dark eyes narrowed, like a predator closing in on his prey, she could see her breath disturbing his hair, she couldn't seem to stop her lips parting so slightly. Her face felt hot, her skin sensitive to every brush of clothing, the water dripping down her back from her wet hair.

"No one ever challenges you, Temari," he murmured. "Not even your brothers."

She wanted to reply, but her lips didn't want to move. The frustration on his face didn't conceal the worry. He was right, Gaara had deferred to her judgement on her health, Kankurou never said a word about it, her doctors did as they were ordered. Shikamaru didn't take her orders. The demand for an answer, an explanation, was infuriating but at the same time it was something no one else had ever asked of her.

Her heart thumped hard in her chest, she was caught in his eyes. The tip of her nose brushed against his, she hadn't even realised she had been leaning forward. The feel of course material against her face, strong, lean fingers brushing through wet hair, sent shocks down her spine. Her hands ached to touch him, she pressed them against his chest.

Her whole world was overwhelmed by those black eyes, the smell of him, the heat of his breath against her face. She was only separated from the skin of his chest by a tantalisingly thin layer of fabric, she could feel the ridges of his mesh shirt under the cloth. Air rushed through her lips, breaths taken quickly, almost panting, and she could feel the same from him. His thumbs traced lines on her cheeks, his grip tightening to a desperate tension.

Temari could almost taste his lips, his nose nudged hers, gently, affectionately, encouraging her closer. Her eyes drifted closed, so lost in the feel of him. Their foreheads touched and she sighed, they were so close, their hips touching, bodies pressed against each other. All she had to do was lean forward, close that last millimetre, and they'd be kissing.

Temari's eyes shot open. Oh _hell _no. She wrenched out of his grip, a shock of cold descending over her. She had nearly kissed him. He barged into her room to give her a lecture on her personal habits and she responded by trying to _kiss_ him?

What in hell was she _doing?_

"What in hell are you _doing?_" she accused, crossing her arms, bringing the barrier back up. "You can't just raid my personal files and come in here to get on my back about it, then... then... That's not how it works!"

"Temari.." he started, but she didn't want to hear it.

She started fixing her hair and obi as she talked, refusing to look at him. "Those files aren't your business, you shouldn't even be looking at them. But that's not even what this is really about, so why don't you just admit it? Where is Hidan?"

"How is that..?"

"You don't _know_," she hissed, eyes still fixed on the mirror. "You don't know, the mighty Nara Smart Ass has lost control of the situation. You have no plan, you have no clue, so now you're searching for something else to figure out and control."

He stepped back, avoiding her as she swooped down on the desk beside him, retrieving her tessens and jamming them into her obi.

"You can't just barge back into my life and try to figure me out like some puzzle, Nara, I'm not a fucking board game. My hospital visits are _confidential_. Do you get that?"

"Barge back into your life?" he asked disbelievingly. "If I remember right you're the one who just disappeared."

"I didn't disappear, I was right here, at home, in my home country, in my home town, and not once did you go out of your way to come see me, so don't bother trying to lay a guilt trip on me. Go use that big brain of yours to figure out where Hidan's head is."

"Temari." Shikamaru caught her arm, forcing her to face him. Her most withering glare was useless against him. "I'm worried about you."

"Worry about yourself." She tugged her arm out of his grip. "And stay out of my files. I'm supposed to be training, see you later."

Before he could answer she launched herself out the window toward the desert.

--

Shikamaru cursed himself, still standing in her bedroom. Stupid stupid, he couldn't believe he'd been so stupid. Like if he just came over here and confronted her she'd burst into tears, admit she had a problem and enter a twelve step program. He sighed and sat down on her bed.

The worst part was the niggling feeling that she was exactly right about him. Hidan was gone and he didn't have the slightest clue where to begin looking for him. He was feeling out of control, lost. That didn't mean that his concern for her was just a way to regain that control, he wasn't that self centred... was he?

Shikamaru slouched down further. She couldn't have left him feeling any lower. He could still feel her face in his hands, her fingers pawing at his chest. Kami, she'd almost had him. In that moment every bit of anger had melted away, he'd forgotten about the bet, it had taken every bit of his self control not to just throw her on the bed and have his way with her. The way her hands trembled, her breath stuttered, she would have accepted him.

Stupid, stupid. Why didn't he just kiss her? This stupid bet, it was driving him insane. She had been so close and he blew it. She was so pissed off when she left, every word dripping with acid, and pissed off Temari was not someone to mess with. It was bad enough that she was still fuming from her fight with Ketsu, and he had to go and rub salt in the wound. Idiot.

Shikamaru closed his eyes. Her words had stung. It was true, he had lost control, but the insinuation that he was manipulating her to gain it back, it made him sound so weak, so petty. The worst part was that stinging accusation, he had always look at her leaving as some kind of abandonment, he'd never even thought to chase after her. Megume wouldn't have let him, but he couldn't lay the blame on Temari for that.

Great, now she was somewhere tearing up the desert, thinking he saw her as a plaything to be figured out and discarded. Dammit. He swore aloud. He couldn't leave things like this, not even for a little while. He wanted to make things right, and he wanted to know that she wasn't destroying her body and her livelihood.

Shikamaru leapt from her window, trying to follow her path out to the desert. She'd have gone far away from Suna, she had to in order to draw her tessens. Of course she might just see him coming and blow him straight back into town, but he had to try to make things right. His father would think this was hilarious.

The rooftops blew by below him, empty desert stretching out in front. He saw a trail of destruction through the skeletal forest just outside Suna and followed the path hewn through the dead trees. He saw her shadow up ahead, taking her time destroying the forest as she made her way to the other side. He didn't have anything planned to say to her, he wasn't used to this kind of thing.

Shikamaru kept his distance, not wanting to get caught in the gusts of wind that levelled trees, her rage blasting out in a radius around her. She made her way out the other side of the forest, walking out into clear land, a flat plain. He hung back, maybe this wasn't the best time to approach her. Maybe when she wasn't likely to literally take his head off.

Shikamaru decided to turn back, but lingered a moment when he saw her take up a basic combat stance. He had wanted to see her new moves. He perched on one of the dead trees, deciding to watch until it became unsafe to do so.

Her stance was familiar now, her arms extended low, gripping a closed tessen in each hand. She closed her eyes and expelled a deep breath, as if she was willing her anger to leave her body. Tough for Temari on a good day, but when her eyes snapped open again they were clear, determined.

There was a squawk and Shikamaru looked up to see the desert birds in the wood around him take to the skies, moving as one, aware of the danger. He saw mice on the ground also fleeing, every sign of life avoiding what was about to happen.

Temari's fans fell open.

He was nearly taken off the branch by the blast of chakra, and when he drew the shielding arm away from his face the whole world seemed devoid of colour, like it was being sapped by the powerful weapons. She didn't move, standing rigid, like she was practising the stance, weighing the weapons in her hands, feeling the wind resistance, processing the sudden changes to the world.

When finally she made a move, it wasn't at all what Shikamaru expected. She held one fan in front of her, shielding her, the other swept around to protect her back. Her knees bent, testing the weight, and her left hand flicked, throwing the rear fan into the air and catching it again just as gracefully. In one smooth move she caught the fan and pushed it outward. A blast of wind cleared the sand to her side.

Temari was still again, holding the pose. Then her left fan swept again, only this time it sung through the air defensively, forming a locked shield with the right fan, an iron wall that no one could pass through. Shikamaru could still the curve of her extended ankle and elbow, the tiniest hint of her eyes over the top. Again she held it.

Her steps were graceful, a twirl, measured footfalls that spun her in a circle, her left hand resting against her back, displaying the pure white fan like a brilliant tail, the right blown out to the side, the rolling swing creating a circular wind, a defensive tornado. It twirled through the air long after she stopped moving.

This time she didn't pause, the second the wind subsided she was moving again, both fans twirling into steel rotors in her hands, exposing and concealing her, doing nothing to disguise the fluid movements of lean arms and overworked shoulders, the tilt of her hips as her legs braced her against the sand.

This was no defensive move, twin snakes, made entirely of wind, sped through the sand, tearing up the earth all around them, pure destruction. Temari slid her fans into the ground and fell forward onto one knee, arms outstretched, controlling, guiding. The snakes followed identical paths, twisting and curling under her hand movements before being forced straight into the air and allowed to blossom and burn out.

Shikamaru barely noticed her ethereal creations. He dimly realised that his mouth was dry, hanging open. This was... obscene.

She rolled her hips, hoisting the weight of the steel into the air, feet dancing, fans swinging, the sand springing to life around her. She swept outside the circle she had created, her rhythm perfect, first one fan flowed, the the other, her body in perfect time with the heartbeat that thundered in Shikamaru's ears, watching her unashamedly burlesque manoeuvres.

Her body swayed, each swing more exaggerated than the last, each kiss of wind shaping the tornado in front of her, moulding it with her fans like they were an extension of her body. It was so unsafe for him to be where he was, easily in range of any of these techniques, but his body had stopped responding to his commands, frozen like a statue clinging to the tree.

Temari tossed one tessen in the air, the other held against her back. She leapt upward, stepping on the flattened tessen, twisting in mid air to grab it and toss her other fan above her, maintaining momentum and flying upward in one fluid movement. She hopped from fan to fan, dancing through the air. He hadn't appreciated until that moment how the ANBU uniform clung to her, showing the muscles of her back, the curve of her breast, the hollow of her neck as she stretched out in each perfect leap.

She was high above the tornado when she seemed to freeze in the air, arms folded to present her tessens like wings. The heavenly image only lasted a moment before she let forth the full force of her weapons. The desert rocked, the ground shaking, Shikamaru fell back as trees around him were uprooted. He should have turned around run, but his eyes were fixed to the sight before him.

Temari slammed to the ground, not even looking at the monster she had created. The tornado shaped by her final blow, risen off the ground into a ball of swirling sand. It looked like Naruto's rasengan, only the diameter was three times the height of any normal person.

Another flick of the tessens and it disintegrated, sand flowing down to the ground like a waterfall.

Before his brain could register what happened she twirled again, the same move from before, the tornado reforming around her. She stepped out, shaping it again, building it up, although this one wasn't nearly the same size. The fans twisted around her body, exposing one long leg, one slender wrist, the curve of her waist, each time revealing and concealing, her tornado building.

She stopped, falling back to her original position, a fan to either side, facing away from her tempest. Faster than Shikamaru could see, she threw both fans into the air, then launched herself upward.

It was like she was moving in slow motion, sailing through the air. At the very peak of her jump, just above the height of the tornado, she let herself start falling backward. The line of her body was perfect, long legs the flowed into the curve of her back, breasts thrust forward, feet tucked against one another, gliding through the air as naturally as any bird. Her hands clasped in a series of seals and then were brought to her mouth.

Fire spilled from her lips, swept up in the storm, circling around her as she fell down into the eye, lost in the firestorm. Her hands found her tessens and at the last possible moment her legs tucked under her.

Whatever Shikamaru had been expecting, it wasn't the wall of fire that radiated out from her in every direction, speeding toward him with the the force of a massive explosion. It blossomed like a flower, curling upward and spilling out onto the sand, a wave of molten sand carried on the wind, ready to destroy anything in its path.

His frozen mind suddenly taken over by self preservation, he made a split second decision. The only way to avoid it was to go forward and over.

He threw himself in Temari's direction, feeling the hellfire on the bottom of his feet.

With a tumbling landing, he found himself kneeling in front of the desert princess.

"Crybaby, have you been there the whole time?"

He nodded, still recovering from the shock. "Yeah."

Temari's lips curved in a sly smile. She knelt in front of him, bringing herself down to his level. "Like what you saw?"

He looked her in the eye, shocked. Not twenty minutes ago she was furious with him. "I've never..."

"Seen anything like it before?" She asked. "No one has. At least, no one still living."

The look on her face was unmistakeably predatory, and he tried to get his scattered brain into order to figure out what was going on. Before he could form a coherent thought he felt her hands on his chest, and she leaned close, her lips brushing his ear. He froze, suddenly paralysed. Her tongue darted out to play with his earlobe and she let her hot breath wash over the sensitive skin.

"Tem... Temari..." he stammered, but she continued the assault. He wrapped his hands around her shoulders, desperate for some kind of anchor to keep him from drowning. There was no tremble in her touch, nothing of the hesitance she had before, nothing of the vulnerability. She brought her mouth lower, nipping at the skin of his neck, drawing a hoarse groan from the back of his throat.

They had moved closer, he could feel her breasts pressed against his chest, her hips grinding against his own. It was too much, he couldn't take anymore. His hands clamped down on her, pulling her away. One arm wrapped around her waist, supporting her weight as he leant her back, giving him the power to visit on her the same torture. The moment his lips touched her skin he knew he was in trouble.

She smelled good, nothing flowery, just sand, sweat and leather, she smelled like a woman. The hands that found a grip in his hair were small and feminine but strong, and the whimpers and pants that escaped her lips were more girlish than he could have ever imagined Temari capable of. But the way she tasted was better than all of it. He sucked on the tender skin just behind her ear, letting his tongue trail over her, drinking in everything about her.

She arched into him and moaned. That sound could so easily send him over the edge. Their hips ground together frantically and he couldn't tell if she was doing it or he was, it felt so good. He wanted so much more, he wanted everything.

He wanted his kiss.

He wrapped a hand through her hair, bringing her face to his. She looked up at him through wild eyes, her pupils fully dilated, face flushed. Shikamaru felt his stomach turn to stone. His fingers tightened involuntarily in her hair and internally he rioted, swearing every foul word her knew black and blue.

Forcing his hands to comply, he helped her regain her balance and let her go, standing up.

"Shikamaru?" she asked, bewildered.

"You're high, Temari." His voice was steely, angrier than he had intended. "I can't."

A numbness swept his body, he turned and walked away. The sound of frustration that escaped her lips made him smile grimly. If she only knew how close he had been to not caring how high she was. Everything inside him screamed to turn back, there was a gorgeous woman throwing herself at him. A gorgeous woman who really knew how to use her fans.

Fuck. He clenched his fists and kept walking. He needed to get away, the desert air felt suffocating, his clothes were smothering him, his lungs weren't working properly. A fierce wind struck up and he knew without looking that she had returned to her practise. He didn't want to look, it felt cheap, watching her tawdry training from the trees, spying on her in her most sensual moments.

Fuck her for taking those drugs, at that moment he didn't care about her pain. He needed her clear headed. He needed to know what she really felt, if he was someone she wanted to be close to, or if she was just in need and he was nearby. The thought sickened him. How many men had just been nearby? How many had seen her cheeks flushed, body stretched, eyes dark? What the fuck was she doing with her life?

The image played in his head again and again, her fans fluttering, disguising her, one long leg outstretched, the stretch of bare skin so tempting. When did she get to be so sexy? She hadn't been that way when he'd met her, her short, sturdy, undeveloped body held no interest to him at his chuunin exams, aside from the unmistakeable strength that threatened to tear him apart. When had she stopped being stocky and started being curvy? When had she stopped being terrifying and started being challenging?

When had the threat of a single kiss turned into something so important?

The forest was fading behind him, the open space helping his heart rate return to normal. The thoughts in his head became more ordered, beginning to make sense again. It was just a kiss. That was what this bet was about, a battle of pride. She would eventually admit to him that she cared, just a little. That was all, a kiss, not a proposal, not crazy sex up against the wall, no commitment, just a single kiss.

The million thoughts of the day swirled back into that single purpose and Shikamaru let his hands unclench. He couldn't believe he'd lost his cool so badly. Twice. This was getting completely out of hand, and he couldn't let that happen. Temari's bad life choices weren't his business or his problem. For now he just had one kiss to focus on.

The slow walk back to town calmed his nerves, and by the time he walked through the gates of Suna he had regained most of his composure. He caught sight of a familiar face in the guard post and groaned. Just what he needed right now, company. There was no avoiding it.

"Hey, Shikamaru!" Kankurou called, practically hauling him inside the post. Neji gave him a nod in greeting, seemingly deep in conversation with one of the Suna guards.

"Kankurou. How's Gaara?" Shikamaru asked.

"Ah, Neji and I just took him back to the Kazekage building. Matsuri's back home."

"That's good. Uh... what are we doing here?"

"This is Kenta-san, one of the jounin who's been defending Yama. We're trying to figure out where Seiya's headed next."

Finally, someone who might have some answers, who might know if there was anyone in Yama with a reason to steal a disembodied head.

Shikamaru looked at Kenta, assessing him. His casual smirk and tousled hair reminded him of Genma, there was that same laid back arrogance about him. The man turned to greet him, giving a sloppy salute.

"Nara Shikamaru, right? You're the guy who's going after Temari."

Shikamaru sighed, exasperated. How was everyone finding out about this? Had Ino put an announcement in the newspaper? He wouldn't put it past Kankurou, either. His nerves were frayed enough as it was without all this questioning.

"Yeah, that's me. This is such a pain."

Kenta grinned broadly. "Ah, she's worth it, if you you what I mean."

"Hey, man, that's my sister you're talking about," Kankurou warned. Neji bristled, fingers brushing against his weapons, sensing the tension in the air.

"Ah, man, don't take it personally, with a sister like her you should be used to it by now."

He made a lewd gesture and laughed, his obscene grin spreading from ear to ear.

Shikamaru's eyes narrowed.

--

Gaara looked over his desk, arms crossed, he wasn't even fully healed and he could feel a headache coming on. He surveyed the four sulking shinobi.

Kankurou nursed a blossoming purple bruise on his forehead, half supporting the weight of Shikamaru, who was heavily favouring his left side. Neji was holding his ribs like they were about to buckle at any moment, but Kenta had come off the worst. The jounin's face was half blackened, his jaw clearly broken, and his shoulder was sitting at an odd angle.

Gaara sighed. "Dare I ask?"


End file.
